Billy Graham’s National Confession
As we shall see in moment, it is far more than a prayer for America. It is a confession of national sin, and a cry for national repentance of and cleansing from her sinful ways. However, upon even closer notice, not national sins, but national sin, as Billy Graham reduces all of America’s sins to one, which is described in the Bible in Isaiah 5:20:
“Woe to America who calls evil good,
and good evil….”
One has to let that sink in slowly to feel the horror of it all, for when an entire nation calls evil good and good evil, the catastrophic effects of both are numberless and inconceivable. In fact, isn’t that what you have found yourself saying these days in reaction to this or that moral deterioration in America, “I don’t know what to say except it is inconceivable.” Why? Because:
“A NATION THAT CALLS EVIL GOOD IN ESSENCE IS
CALLING THE DEVIL DIVINE.”
Solomon was a younger man than Barack Obama when he was about to embark upon his kingship as successor to King David his father. In a dream, God asked him, “What would you like me to give you?” Solomon acknowledged that he had been raised up to the throne not by his own initiative, but by the sovereign will of God Himself. And he also acknowledged that the people he would rule were the people of God and not his people. (I Kings 3:9)
Solomon could have asked God for countless things, but he boiled down his request to one thing and only one. We read his one pointed and all-consuming desire and petition from God in II Kings 3:9,
“So give Thy servant an understanding heart to judge
Thy people to discern between good and evil….”
This was to be the deciding factor in his administration in every issue brought before him, namely, discerning what is right and what is wrong, what is of God and what is of the Devil. He wanted no moral haziness or political correctness in his reign as king. There would be no misunderstanding in his Kingship of what was evil and what was good.
God was pleased with Solomon’s request, very pleased. So much so, that God gave Solomon a wise and discerning heart like no one had before him and no one who followed him. The wisest man that ever lived! The fact is:
“WITH GOD’S ETHICAL DISCERNMENT COMES HEAVEN’S
WISDOM IN ALL CONCERNS.”
What happens when a nation is not being governed by God’s ethical discernment but instead by human and therefore carnal wisdom? President Barack Obama was asked by Pastor Rick Warren when human life begins. His answer was,
“That is above my pay grade.”
In other words:
“PRESIDENT OBAMA WAS CONFRONTED WITH THE INESTIMABLE
VALUE AND SANCTITY OF HUMAN LIFE AND CALLED
IT ECONOMICS.”
He put a price on that which is priceless. The answer was not above his pray grade, but it was above his moral grade. It was one of the dumbest, most unwise, and destructive answers to the most profound question regarding life that I have ever heard.
America is not being governed by Divine moral discernment at this time, and she now has a president who desperately needs to cry out to God what Solomon cried out for, so that God will remove that immoral, abortion-death gurgle out of President Obama’s throat.
*******
BILLY GRAHAM’S PRAYER FOR AMERICA
“Heavenly Father, we come before You today to ask
Your forgiveness and to seek Your direction and
guidance. We know your Word says, “Woe to
those call evil good,” but that is exactly
what we have done.
Your forgiveness and to seek Your direction and
guidance. We know your Word says, “Woe to
those call evil good,” but that is exactly
what we have done.
We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed
our values. We have exploited the poor and called
it the lottery. We have rewarded laziness and
called it welfare. We have killed our
unborn and called it choice.
We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.
We have neglected to discipline our children
and called it the building of self-esteem.
We have abused power and called
it politics.
We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and
called it ambition. We have polluted the air with
profanity and pornography and called it free-
dom of expression. We have ridiculed the
time-honored values of our forefathers
and called it enlightenment.
Search us Oh God, and know our hearts today;
cleanse us from every sin and set
us free. Amen!
*******
CALLING THE WICKED RIGHTEOUS
What is the bottom line of what Billy Graham is confessing here? It is very simple to understand, but very difficult to have to admit that in American society, in her government, in her courts, in her schools, and now even in her churches:
“TRUTH IS BEING CALLED FALSEHOOD, AND FALSEHOOD IS
BEING CALLED TRUTH.”
If you will:
“WRONG IS BEING CALLED RIGHT AND RIGHT IS BEING
CALLED WRONG.“
“How,” you ask? In every conceivable way! Read Billy Graham’s national confession to God again. It is a bull’s eye prayer! Rather, please pray it in your church, and there will never be a truer prayer that has ever been prayed!
How could such an unimaginable thing happen to a nation that has Christian roots in the moral truth of the Holy Bible? Before answering that, I must quote Francis Bacon when he said:
“SOME BOOKS ARE TO BE TASTED, OTHERS ARE TO BE SWALLOWED,
AND SOME FEW ARE TO BE CHEWED AND DIGESTED.”
America once ate, chewed, digested and found spiritual nourishment and moral strength primarily in the Holy Bible. Not only did the majority of Americans carry their Bibles to church, but America was literally carried by the Bible during the week. America grasped it like famished men desperate for food. America not only welcomed the Bible intellectually, but chewed over it, savored it, and got it deep down into her spiritual and moral innards.
Now America is spitting the Bible out of her mouth because in her rebellion against God it gives her moral stomachache. She no longer ingests the Word of God because it gives her spiritual indigestion. At the most she now goes to churches, if she goes at all, that serve select bits and pieces, appetizers, hors d’oeuvres which satisfy her sweet tooth. And with her apostate churches and seminaries:
“AMERICA EMBRACES SKEPTICISM AND UNBELIEF AND
CALLS IT SCHOLARSHIP.”
Since American outlawed the Bible, including the Ten Commandments, from the hearts and souls of her youth, we don’t have to be the least bit baffled that the disastrous result has been that Americans now call evil good and good evil.Not only American society, but the American Church now calls good evil and evil good. Very few anymore build churches and call them “Bible Churches.” No, no, no, that is now looked upon as “Rah Rah Fundamentalism.” Horrible but true:
“FEWER AND FEWER PREACHERS IN AMERICA BOLDLY AND
SHARPLY CALL GOOD –GOOD AND EVIL – EVIL.”
As a matter of fact, in huge segments of the modern church:
“WHAT WAS ONCE VIEWED AS GOOD SIN CONVICTION IN THE
“WHAT WAS ONCE VIEWED AS GOOD SIN CONVICTION IN THE
HUMAN HEART IS NOW VIEWED AS A BADGUILT COMPLEX.”
And:
“SIN HAS GONE FROM SCARLET RED TO PASTEL PINK
TO OFF WHITE.”
Many churches and pastors are busy developing a “Cultural Religion” in which God is consistently misquoted and contradicted to suit the culture. That is sheer blasphemy! More and more churches and pastors are doing the following:
“THEY EMBRACE PERVERSION AND CALL IT GENETIC NECESSITY
AND ALTERNATIVE LIFESTYLE.”
God says in Proverbs 24:24-25 about the person who calls the wicked righteous,
“He who says to the wicked, ‘You are righteous,’ peoples
will curse him, nations will abhor him; But to those
who rebuke the wicked will be delight,
and a good blessing will come
upon them.”
Vast segments of America and American Churches no longer rebuke the wicked, they affirm them. That is exactly why bad things and not good things are happening in our economy. All of the miseries and calamities financially that are afflicting America and are turning the world’s economic system upside down are the direct result of coloring evil, and the promotion of evil with righteous pretense. America is therefore now under a curse and not under the good blessing of God, and she is presently receiving the “Woe of God” in Isaiah 5:20 which goes to say,
“Woe to those…who substitute darkness for light and light
for darkness; who substitute bitter for sweet,
and sweet for bitter.”
*******
A NATION THAT CALLS GREED GOOD
I must add at this point one more confession to Billy Graham’s prayer:
“WE HAVE BECOME A NATION OF GREED AND CALLED IT GOOD.”
You may recall the motion picture Wall Street starring Michael Douglas. One of the most revealing moments came when he stood up in stockholders meeting and said, “Greed is good! Greed is good!” In fact, not only is greed being called good, it is being called the “American Dream.” So much so that across America, it was not uncommon when Michael Douglas called greed good to hear people in the theater applaud.
What does God say about it in His Word. We read in Psalm 10:3 in the KJV,
“For the wicked boasteth of his heart’s desire, and blesseth
the covetous (greedy), whom the Lord abhorreth.”
Where we read the verb “Abhorreth,” it comes from the Hebrew verb “Naats” which means “To Despise, Sting, Pierce.” Ouch! God views the greedy who never give a penny for the poor and who criminally bilk the masses out of billions of dollars as despicable. He abhors greedy people. God stings them with the hornets of inflation and unemployment, as well as pierces their economy to the point that it begins to bleed to death. American financial institutions are now hemorrhaging because of greed and corruption. America has called greed good and is now paying the price!
Listen:
“GREED HAS NO CONSCIENCE.“
None! In America’s present depression/recession which greed has caused, the president and the congress are spending and borrowing, spending and borrowing trillions of dollars to such a degree that the world has never seen before in all of its history. In it all greed does not allow itself to admit or feel in the slightest that it is committing “Generational Theft.” American politicians talk about their concern for future generations, when in fact they are mortgaging generation after generation without end until dooms day. All the while:
“FEEDING THE CORPORATE SHARKS WHO HAVE BEEN SUCKING
DRY THE FINANCIAL LIFE-BLOOD OF THE NATION.“
Woe to them who call evil good! And it is happening in front of our very eyes. Listen to the following and you will see Isaiah 5:20 in action:
“WHEN GREED IS THE CONTROLLING FACTOR, IN GOVERNMENT
THIEVERY IS CALLED FINANCIAL INITIATIVE, AND IN
CORPORATIONS THIEVERY IS CALLED
EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION.”
Thereby America is doing exactly that which the Lord is now despising, stinging and piercing, namely:
“BLESSING THE COVETOUS.”
When man blesses sin, God curses the sinners!
*******
CALLING EVIL GOOD ON EVERY LEVEL
Allow me to quote from Psalm 10:3 once again,
“For the wicked boasteth of his heart’s desire, and
blesseth the covetous (greedy)….”
I watch from time to time ESPN 2’s Mike And Mike In The Morning, especially concerning the steroid issue in modern-day major league baseball in the 20th and 21st centuries. I have listened in astonishment as Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic prove to the viewing audience that during the exposing of famous heavyweight baseball players who were (are) using illegal body building substances, baseball attendance soared and baseball salaries continued to climb into the stratosphere.
Do we need a more graphic example of the public blessing the greedy than today’s baseball steroid addicts and money mongers being supported as never before? And in it all, Isaiah 5:20 is being lived out again:
“LOVING THOSE THE BEST WHO ABUSE THE
SPORT THE WORST.”
A few mornings ago I watched as Mike and Mike had Ricky Henderson on their show in Disneyland Florida. Ricky is the all-time base stealer in the major leagues, and probably one of the most egotistical athletes I have ever seen, equaling Mohammed Ali in the world of boxing. When Ricky was asked by Mike Golic, “Who do you think has been or is the greatest lead-off batter in the history of major league baseball?” Without hesitation Henderson responded, “Me!” I about barfed up my breakfast, but the crowd that was gathered for the show roundly applauded “Mr. Me.” We live in an unprecedented time in our nation when:
“ADORING FANS KISS THE SWIFT FEET OF THE PROUD, SWOLLEN,
OVERGROWN, OBSCENELY OVER-PAID,
SELF-WORSHIPING ATHLETE.”
Here it is again:
“LOOKING AT NAKED PRIDE AND AFFIRMING IT
AS PRAISEWORTHY.”
*******
CONCLUSION
It is a painful and perilous time for Americans. America for so many years has experienced such super-power status in the eyes of the nations, and such prosperity in the eyes of the world. Now it appears that all of this is being reversed. I hear the Lord saying in all of this, and we had better listen to His woeful words:
“IF AMERICA, YOU PERSIST IN REVERSING GOOD INTO
EVIL AND EVIL INTO GOOD, I WILL REVERSE YOUR
MIGHT INTO WEAKNESS, AND YOUR PROSPERITY
INTO POVERTY STATUS.”
Or as Deuteronomy 28:44 states, which is also a word for word description of America’s economic dependence upon China:
“He shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him;
he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail.”
And it isn’t China that is ultimately wagging the tail, God is!
This is what America must hear in these days, and it must be preached across the land from sea to shining sea:
“IF AMERICA DOESN’T DETERMINE TO ONCE AGAIN PLEASE GOD,
SHE WILL CONTINUE TO COME UNDER THE WOE OF
HIS SORE DISPLEASURE.”
Listen:
“ONLY IF AMERICA DETERMINES TO BLESS GOD WILL GOD
CONTINUE TO BLESS AMERICA.“
