Get Ready, Get Set, Go! Kay Keith Peebles 3/2/18 18.07
I could see it so clearly but there wasn’t anything in front of my eyes. My husband and I had gathered to worship and pray together as is our custom most mornings. It was Thursday, February 22, 2018, the day after Billy Graham graduated to heaven. We sat down and as we collected our thoughts to pray, we began to celebrate Billy Graham’s life and ministry that spanned decades and touched millions of lives, including ours.
We reminisced about going to our first Billy Graham Crusade in Dallas, Texas in 1971. We were studying at North Texas State University about an hour and a half away. We had only been married a couple of years and although we attended church from time to time, we were not true Christians. Seeds of life were planted in our hearts that night and eventually we both became born again. Decades later, when we were living in Tampa, Florida, Mr. Graham held a three night crusade in the brand new Raymond James Stadium before any football games or sporting events had been held. His ministry sent notices to all the churches in the area calling for choir members to join together to form a crusade choir. Since my husband and I were both in the church choir at our home church we jumped at the chance to sing at the Billy Graham crusade in Tampa. Hundreds of voices gathered together from all churches to practice for several weeks. We thrived on the leadership of Cliff Barrows as we sang some old hymns we had known for years and learned a few new ones.
It was thrilling the first night of the crusade to celebrate the Lord with 50,000 other people eagerly awaiting the call to follow Jesus. Former President George H. W. Bush came and shared a few words and George Beverly Shea sang a couple of inspirational songs which rocked the atmosphere with faith in God. Mr. Graham stood to preach and silence filled the stadium as everyone clung to every word that came out of his mouth. The Gospel was shared in such simplicity even a child could receive, but the power of God moved mightily on thousands of hearts convicting them of their sinful nature and their need for a Savior. It took thousands of volunteers to help make that historical event a success but their devotion was not only to see souls saved, it was to support a man who had given his entire life to reconcile mankind to God. His ministry spanned the whole world but we Americans reaped the greatest influence and blessing of all.
At the moment we finished reminiscing about Billy Graham, I saw a vision of a page in my Bible I had read hundreds of times. It looked crystal clear as if I was holding my bible before me but my Bible was in another room. The scripture passage was Isaiah 6:1-8, “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory.’ And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. So I said, ‘Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts.’ Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with it, and said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged.’ Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying ‘Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?’ Then I said, ‘Here am I! Send me’.”
Isaiah was writing of a life-changing moment. The death of the king sparked a shift, a change in the spiritual atmosphere which would impact the nation. The Lord raised Isaiah up to be a prophet to Israel. His ministry was to warn them of their sin and disregard of God’s word while he encouraged them to return to Him and repent of their sin. The Lord moves in seasons and times and there was something about the king’s death that ushered in a new period of God’s direction and correction regarding Israel. It was the end of an era, the closing of one season and the opening of a new work of God. Isaiah saw the Lord on His heavenly throne surrounded by seraphim and cherubim crying out “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts…” He glimpsed the holiness of God and that revelation exposed his sin nature causing him to repent and give his life to serve the LORD. Isaiah was commissioned by God to speak for Him as a prophet to the nation of Israel. When I saw this vision, I realized the Lord was saying something about the timing of Billy Graham’s death and what He was doing in the spiritual atmosphere of the earth today, especially in America.
Another scripture came to mind. John 12:24, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.” Before I was born, my father was a peanut farmer in south Texas. He could grow anything. He became a salesman for a large paper manufacturing company by the time I was born, but he always had a garden. He grew peach and pecan trees in our yard which he had grafted to improve the quality of the fruit. One pecan (seed) could grow a mature tree over 100 feet tall and the spread of its branches horizontally could be up to 75 feet. Each large branch had smaller off-shoots that filled the tree with branches and leaves all loaded with pecans in the fall. Dad’s three pecan trees yielded over 300 pounds of pecans every year. We not only had pecans for ourselves but we were able to give pecans to friends and family.
Take that concept of multiplication and apply it to the Evangelist Billy Graham and the generation he represents. Mr. Graham was a godly man who gave his life to serve the Lord. He was a simple country boy who was radically touched by God. He grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina where his father owned a dairy farm. People from the church asked if they could gather and pray on his father’s property for a man to be raised up to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to America. Billy attended revival meetings of evangelist Mordecai Ham at the age of 16 and those meetings forever changed his life. He was ordained in 1939. Several years passed and he began holding evangelistic crusades in tents. In 1949 Billy preached in a crusade in LA and was interviewed by a radio personality Stuart Hamblen causing his name to spread nationwide. His meetings grew as the crowds kept coming and his venues were changed to large stadiums which held thousands, radio and television broadcasts. It has been estimated 215 million people like us came to hear the Gospel and were given the opportunity to repent of their sins and follow Jesus. His ministry not only influenced America, he travelled to 185 countries all over the world.
The death of Billy Graham marked the passing of a generation of God’s Preaching Generals who carried the torch of the Gospel to further the Kingdom of God in the earth. The Lord was saying to me that when Billy Graham died, it marked the end of a season and the beginning of a new era. When the seed of his body goes into the ground, thousands of end-time evangelists are being raised up to usher in the greatest revival the world has ever seen! God sent John the Baptist to call people to repentance. He came to prepare the hearts of the people before the first coming of Jesus’ ministry, death and resurrection. Jesus’ disciples, and later the Apostle Paul, changed the world forever. Just imagine, instead of twelve disciples-Apostles, thousands are sent to all the highways and byways in the world to reap the souls of the lost, reconciling them to the Lord before He comes again! The Bible says, “For the earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, As the waters cover the seas.” Habakkuk 2:14. When the Glory of God covers the earth to reap the harvest of souls, the judgment of God will also be set into motion. He will not only judge all that is evil and those who participate in evil acts but He will also judge those who approve of it. The Bible clearly says we cannot serve two masters. See Matthew 6:24.
The Lord has been building His church line upon line, precept upon precept, revelation upon revelation since His death and resurrection. Revelation that was once lost has streamed after the dark ages of religious persecution and oppression. God has re-established a foundation of faith from one generation to another building His church to not only sustain real abiding faith in Him, but to truly experience life transformation. We are now in final preparation for this next season of harvest. Men and governments have tried to harness the power of the Gospel in order to control people, but the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ will not be suppressed, it will not be contained and it will not be controlled by man! God, Himself, will be in charge of this end time move before He returns.
What does this mean for the individual who claims to be a Christian? Those who call themselves Christians stand before a precipice. The Bible is abundantly clear in its definition of a true disciple of Jesus Christ. Although man has tried to manipulate the scriptures to fit his own agenda, the Word of God does not lie. A life confessing faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and His Kingdom leaves evidence (fruit) of a heart consecrated to Jesus, His kingdom and His Word. A true believer must be a person who is fully submitted to the leading and direction of the Holy Spirit. That life will produce the fruit of the Spirit’s presence. The fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control are the proof of the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in a believer’s life. The Bible says against such fruit or evidence there is no Law (or judgement). See Galatians 5:22-23.
The nine fruit of the Holy Spirit’s work in one’s life will result in a total lifestyle change. The thief will stop stealing, the gossip will stop gossiping, and the liar will stop lying. Those bound in immoral and perverse behavior will be delivered and set free by the undeniable presence of the Lord upon one’s life. Deliverance from addiction as well as healing from brokenness will transform the child of God. The power of God is available to all who truly believe! Going to church does not prove we are believers and neither does our confession if our life does not conform to the example of Jesus Christ.
There are three spiritual conditions that exist today:
1) Those who have not known or received Jesus Christ as LORD and Savior are called lost or unbelievers.
2) Those who claim to be saved but have not consecrated their lives in submission to the leading of the Holy Spirit. They are still walking in the flesh, living as the world lives. They may go to church and serve in leadership, but they are showing no signs of transformation or fruit of the Spirit. They are the luke warm.
3) The born again who have kept or recommitted to Jesus as their first love, seek His presence consistently, and walk in obedience to the Holy Spirit. They are fully dedicated and consecrated to His transforming work in their lives. Their love for Jesus is so great they cannot help but lead others to the Lord so that those who do not know Jesus can share this life of love, joy, righteousness and peace.
Jesus warned the luke warm church in the book of Revelation that if they did not turn back to their first love He would spew them out of His mouth. See Revelation 3:16. They are in a more dangerous place than the lost in this day and this hour because they have heard and rejected the Gospel. They are charlatans because they refuse to allow the Holy Spirit to change them. They are just like the world but pretend to be a child of God and therefore lead others astray. The Bible says that the judgment of God will begin with the household of God first. See 1 Peter 4:17. There is no fence to stand on between the kingdom of the world and the Kingdom of God. True godly repentance is the only solution and there is no more time to delay.
The true church is on the brink of the most glorious age the earth has ever known. The Lord will display His power and glory through authentic believers who seek to make Him known so that billions might be saved in these last days. The Lord says, “Who will go for us”? Get Ready, Get Set, Go!
