Sermon Illustrations

GRAHAM'S FLAME IN HIS HAND

Billy Graham said this,

"When I was a young biblical study major in college, I had questions that many young believers have. I struggled with what I thought were inconsistencies in the word of God, and therefore I had little power in my ministry. My anointing was lacking.

"In 1949, I got alone in the mountains of California and walking down a trail and begin to tell the Lord of the intellectual battle that I was waging in my mind and felt caught in the crossfire. Finally in desperation I surrendered my will to the living God revealed in scripture. I knelt before my open Bible and said, "Lord, there are many things I do not understand, but you said that the just shall live by faith. Here and now, by faith, I accept the Bible as thy word; I take it all without reservation. What I do not understand, I will reserve judgment until after I receive more light. If it pleases thee, give me authority as I preach your word."

The next week, Billy Graham began the Los Angeles Crusade where thousands were saved and his ministry began to attain world wide influence. He said that people came to his crusades not to hear a great orator of the word, but to hear what God had to speak through his word. He said that after that, he found that the word of God was a flame of fire in his hand.

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