Billy Graham - The One Sin God Won’t Forgive – The Sin That Leads Most to Hell

from our archives the Billy Graham classics now tonight I want you to turn with me to the fourth chapter of John's gospel a wonderful story in the life of Jesus Christ and just one verse of scripture and it's a very brief verse it says and he must needs go through Samaria Jesus had been teaching the scribes and the Pharisees had been listening they had told him that John the Baptist had just been in prisoned and he taught his one having Authority and the people came to listen and he taught in great simplicity so that the

Common People heard him gladly and now he has to go back to Galilee he's down south in Judea now he's going to go to Galilee he doesn't get on a plane he doesn't get on a bus he doesn't get in a car he walks and while it wasn't a very long distance by today's standards in those days that was a long distance to go from Judea up to Galilee and he was going to canaa but it says he must needs go through Samaria because you see the Samaritans and the Jews didn't get along they didn't

like each other they avoided each other the Samaritans had intermarried they were not pure blooded and then they the Jewish people would always go on the Eastern side or they'd go the western side of the Jordan River to avoid going through Samaria but Jesus it says must needs go through Samaria why because Jesus had an appointment there that he was going to keep that appointment had been made centuries earlier in the council Halls of God that he must needs go through Samaria you know much of the Bible lands is Desert Water is extremely important Wells

are important and in Samaria at the foot of two mountains was Jacob's Well that Jacob had dug there's not only water that you drink for your physical needs but this spiritual water Jesus said I am the Water of Life Jeremiah said for my people have committed two evils they've forsaken me the Fountain of Living Waters and H them out sists broken sists that can hold no water in a number of places the Bible refers to people who have no spiritual water ye shall be as the guard that hath no water says Isaiah the first chapter

in Zechariah it says prisoners of the pit wherein there's no water second Peter 2:17 these are wells with no water spiritual water the scripture says in Isaiah but the wicked are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest whose Waters cast up M and dirt there's no peace saith my God to the Wicked it says that the waters are like our own Hearts our hearts are troubled and they never rest I watch the waters they never seem to rest they're always moving and Disturbed and God says there's no peace to those who reject God there's

no peace to those who are not living for God now the scarcity of spiritual water throughout the world today is tremendous people are hungry and thirsty we read about it in our papers constantly and people in this country are going to the wrong watering holes searching for satisfaction searching for something that only the Water of Life and the bread of life could meet and that person is Jesus Christ who is the Water of Life and the bread of life you can go down our streets in the major cities of America and see our young people

searching for something they don't know what like that girl at Harvard University she cried for several days and finally the psychiatrist said I can do nothing with her and so they called for the family to come and the father and mother came and she finally blurted out to her father father I want something but I don't know what it is and many people are like that they're searching for something and they go to all kinds of things whether it's drink or sex or whatever it is to try to find that answer or maybe it's money

or maybe it's power whatever it is but it doesn't really satisfy the deepest longings of our hearts searching for something that will bring satisfaction and quench this terrible spiritual thirst that only God can satisfy water in the Middle East is very scarce and often hard to obtain a man who owns a well of water is sometimes better off than if he owned a well of oil many wars have been fought over water in our text today Jesus has been teaching in Judea he's going through Samaria it's the shortest way but it's not the way that

the Jewish people of that day went because they had no dealings with the Samaritans Jesus knew about the woman that he was going to see he knew that he had an appointment with that woman he wanted to teach his disciples a lesson in race relations or a lesson in how to win people to Christ Jesus was weary he sits down at Jacob's Well the disciples had gone to town to buy food this woman came it was almost noon women usually came in the evening when it was cool up but this woman came alone in the

middle of the day when it was very hot but because of her character she was probably a social outcast she came with her water pot to get water and Jesus asked her for a drink that absolutely shook her because Samaritans and Jews didn't even talk to each other and certainly no Jewish person would ask a Samaritan for a favor in just that moment Jesus was sweeping away many prejudices that people have like race Prejudice one of the greatest needs we have in America is for the Lord to come into our hearts and take away our

prejudice against other people who don't look like we do and who don't have the same color of skin that we have and the Samaritans had nothing to do with each other we have today a crisis in nationalism in many parts of the world it's rising that's the reason many people are concerned about the situation in the world because they're dangerous areas in the world and I was always thankful for the work that people like James Becka did to help bring peace to the world but Jesus saw this woman sitting there on Jacob's well and he

said would you give me a drink and she was astonished at such tolerance and courtesy and kind that she saw in his eyes and she said how is it that you being a Jew ask me for a drink which I'm a woman of Samaria for the Jews have no dealings with us Samaritans he didn't want to force religion on her he begins on another subject entirely he's tactful he's diplomatic he asks for a favor he puts himself under obligation to the woman Jesus said if you knew the gift of God and who it is that

saith to you give me to drink you would have asked of him and he would have given the Living Water God offers all of us a gift tonight it's something you can't work for it's something you can't buy it's something you can't earn it's a gift it's free it's spiritual water it's forgiveness of all your sins because of the Cross and the resurrection Isaiah the prophet said in the 55th chapter oh everyone that thirst It Come Ye to the waters and you that have no money come and buy and eat yay come and buy wine

and milk without money and without price why do you spend money for that which is not bread the prophet asked and you labor for that which s satisfi not the thing that you work so hard for and the thing that you desire so much and the thing that you go out to enjoy doesn't satisfy this woman replied she said sir you don't have anything to draw with and the well is deep where are you going to get that Living Water you're talking about you see she mistook the kind of water he was talking about he

was talking about living Eternal water she went back to the well she was talking about that water now the Bible teaches that we are blind to the glories and the thrill of the love of God and the gospel in 2 Corinthians 3:14 it says but their minds were blinded 2 Corinthians 43 and 4 it says but if our gospel be head it is hid to them that are lost in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not lest the light of the Glorious gospel of Christ who is the

image of God should shine unto them there's a supernatural power that blinds you spiritually blind physically you have perfect eyesight but spiritually you're blind you were blinded by an outside spiritual Force called the devil 1 Corinthians 2 says but the natural man that's you receiveth not the things of the spirit of God for their foolishness unto him neither can he know them because they're spiritually discerned Jesus said whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again but whoever drinks of the water that I give him will never thirst but the water that I shall give him

shall be in him a well of water spr bringing up into everlasting life he offers you that water tonight is your soul is your spirit is your mind thirsty for something more in life that you haven't found oh yes you may be baptized you might have been confirmed in the church and you're a good person and you go to church but deep inside your heart something is lacking there isn't the Fulfillment in the satisfaction and the peace that you would like to have and that you believe God could give you what should you do drink

of the Living Water Jesus provides the living water at the cross he went to the Cross as Mrs Baker so beautifully told us a moment ago and there he was beaten and reviled that wasn't his real suffering his real suffering came when he said my God my God why hast Thou forsaken me in that terrible awful mysterious moment God had laid on him the sins of the world your sins and my sins everything I've ever done wrong was put on Jesus he took the judgment and the hell that I deserve on that cross Jesus was

offering this woman water for her thirsty soul our souls are empty and lonely and guilty she felt The Emptiness of her own soul and she said sir give me this water that I thirst not she was very sincere but sincerity alone is not enough a few years ago in the Rose Bowl a man picked up the football everybody shouted they were all to their feet because the skore was tied and and he ran for a touchdown but he'd gone the wrong way and he scored for the other side he was very sincere you never saw

a more sincere man as you watched him but he was wrong you can be sincere in your religion but you can be wrong there is a way the Bible says that seems right but the end thereof is the way of judgment and death you may be on the wrong road God is asking you tonight to turn around toward the Cross by faith repent of your sins and receive him as your Lord and Master and make sure of it there are hundreds of you here tonight that have religion but you're not sure about your relationship with

Christ and you'd like to make sure before you leave here you'd like to know that if you died tonight you'd go to heaven but you're not sure you don't have that peace and that joy that you believe is there somewhere for you and you haven't found it come and take of this living water which is Christ tonight now the kingdom of God is not entered easily Jesus said you have to go through a narrow gate and walk a narrow road and you may be misunderstood and even persecuted and you may suffer for your faith so

Jesus said to her go call your husband now he was hitting on a sore nerve what a spot he touched in her life he knew her sins he knows yours what an overwhelming flood of guilt and remorse this brought to her she shrank back it was as if a thousand search lights had been turned on in her heart and every dirty Secret in her life leaped into the glare no person can come to Christ until there's conviction that you have sinned against God and you have repented and repentance means to change your mind change your

direction change your way of living it means that you're willing to change she partly covered it up and and said I have no husband the scripture says he that covered his sin shall not Prosper Jesus gently reminded her that technically she was right she had no husband she had had five husbands and the man she was now living with was not her husband and she said two things sir I perceive that you're a prophet and please sir would you give me this living water I want it I need it I need it in my life

at that moment she acted on the light that she had which wasn't much you don't have to know much when you come to Christ you don't have to know the whole gospel you don't have to know the Bible you just come like you are the thief on the cross didn't know very much but he turned to Jesus while he was dying and and said Lord remember me when you come into your kingdom just remember me he had no time to join a church he had no time to be baptized he had no time for anything

he just said Lord remember me and that's all that was needed because Jesus said today you will be with me in Paradise Jesus said God is a spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth you and I to worship God in Sp spirit and in truth where you worship God is not the important thing it's how you worship God you worship him in prayer in the reading of the Bible in giving to the church in going to church we worship God and we adore him and everything we do is

an act of worship if you know Christ in all these ways we worship God Jesus made the greatest of all Revelations to her when he said I know that Messiah cometh which is called Christ when he has come he's going to explain all things to us Jesus said to her I am he I am the Messiah what a shock that was to her that she was talking to the Messiah that the Samaritans and the Jews both were looking for and we're looking for today at that moment she was converted at that moment her name was

written in the Book of Life at that moment she guaranteed she was guaranteed a place in the kingdom of heaven and from that moment on she became a witness she proved that she was had that she had met Christ she left her water pot and and went her way into the City and saith to the men she didn't say it to the ladies because they probably had nothing to do with her the men knew her so she said it to the men come and see a man which told me all the things that I ever

did is not this the Christ that we've been waiting for and many Samaritans in that City believe here was the a woman evangelist evangelizing among men telling them about Jesus she didn't have much theology to tell him she didn't know what to say all she said was come and see Jesus and Jesus will change your life as he's changed mine have you been to Jesus that way have you come are you sure your sins are forgiven have you been to the cross and said Lord I have sinned I'm sorry for my sin I'm willing to

change my way of life and I come by faith I don't understand it all but by faith I receive you as my Lord and my master and my savior we've seen hundreds of people each of these two nights that we've been here come and I ask people to come and stand in front of the platform and as they come you're coming and saying Lord I'm coming to you I want to make sure of my relationship with you I want this living water I want this living water in my own life and in my home I

want this living water in my work I want this living water at all times I'm thirsty I need God I need to make sure I need to make certain we never know when our moment is going to come when we have to face God I'm going to ask you to get up and come tonight and make sure of your relationship with Christ if you're with friends or relatives they'll wait on you and after you've all come I'm going to have a prayer with you say a word to you and give you some literature that you

can take back to your home and study and read and it'll help you to grow all over the stadium from that top Stadium up there we've timed it it takes about five or six minutes for you to come don't let distance keep you from Christ because you may never have a moment like this again when will you ever have a moment in Pittsburgh like this again when you can come and make a commitment like this Jesus said if you're not willing to acknowledge me publicly before men I'll not acknowledge you before my Father which is

in heaven there's something about coming forward publicly and settling it and sealing it in your life we're going to ask Jesus died on the cross publicly for you now you can come publicly and say yes to him you may be sitting down here you may be up there there you may be up here in that middle section wherever you are God is speaking to you there's a little voice that says you ought to come to Christ we're going to wait on you as you come right now to this living water from our archives the Billy

Graham classics tonight I want you to turn with me to the 16th chapter of Acts one of the most familiar stories in all the Bible and the 16th chapter of Acts is a wonderful little story in the life of St Paul he and Timothy are traveling about he picked Timothy up at a at another town and now they come to to Philippi and they are arrested for preaching but Philippi was very interesting because that was the first European city that Paul went to he felt that he should be going south but it seems that God

Blocked the way then he felt he should go north up by the Black Sea and the Holy Spirit said no don't go there he had only one place to go and that was West and so he came to Europe he had a vision of a man in Macedonia calling him saying come and help us so he went to Europe with his little team there were four of them them but this time there was Timothy and there was Luke and Silas and they were all together going around preaching proclaiming the gospel of Christ and they were

arrested in Philippi that already had several converts and the first convert in all of Europe was a woman by the name of Lydia she was a very well-to-do woman a sell of purple and she found the Lord she opened her home for them to stay there and when they were arrested they were beaten with long leather thongs with steel pellets on the end all they were beaten with rods it says in one place and they were black and blue and bleeding and they were thrown into the inner prison which meant that their neck was tied

with an iron necklace their hands were put in stocks their feet were put in stocks and there they were but you know what they did by midnight they began to sing praises to God they began to testify they began to tell what Christ had meant to them the jailers was listening and all the people in the jail were listening and they kept on preaching finally there came an earthquake and the walls began to fall down from the jail and the stocks that bound them were loosened and the Jailer knowing that he would be held accountable

and he would have to die he'd be executed for allowing these people to escape he pulled out his sword and he was going to plunge it into his heart when Paul said don't do yourself any harm we're still here and the jalus seeing Paul and Silas standing there fell down before them in humility in the dust of the jail and he asked this question he said s what must I do to be saved how can I have the faith and the spirit that you have you came into this terrible smelly awful Place having been beaten

and now you begin to sing and you began to tell what Christ could do for you how how can I be saved how can I have the same peace and joy and happiness that you have and Paul gave him a very simple answer he didn't go into anything profound he didn't go into a discussion of philosophy or psychology or World conditions he said believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved saved and thy house believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou sh be saved now that was very simple wasn't it and

so we cry we hear the cry all over the world save us we're crying save us from war we read a great deal about Armageddon and many people are asking me today is the end of the world near they're so alarmed at what they see on the television with all the crime that we see and all the hunger that we read about in the Sudan and in Somalia then people are saying save our homes church leaders have told me about the breakdown of the home here in Ohio Nationwide one out of every two marriages ends

in divorce believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house if you come to Christ tonight it'll have an impact on your family have an impact on your marriage on your neighbors then we cist save us psychologically the tensions in the home problems at work health problems making ends meet we want to scream at life we want to escape from Life a few years ago a popular song said make the world go away and get it off my shoulders job who suffered so much in the Bible wanted to die thousands

of people are suffering from some sort of mental illness we're called the tormented generation millions are crying what can I do to be saved from the pressures of Life the pressures are just so great we have great technology to save time but we have less time than ever escapism is a subconscious mechanism to Escape reality job said my days are spent without hope Isaiah the prophet said even the youths shall faint and be weary Cain who had killed Abel had a terrible guilt in his life and he said my burden is greater than I can

bear he became a vagabond a wander the pus said and I said oh that I had the wings like a dove for then I would fly away and be at have you said that I'd like to just fly away from my problem get away from it and have rest the psalmist longing to escape has become the Cry of the world today but there doesn't seem to be any way out for you to those people Jesus said I'm the way out Jesus said I'm the door by me if any man enter in he shall be saved

we have have in the media today what we call group thinking it's affected our whole way of living it affects our brand of food the cars we drive even patterns of religious belief modern communication lays down the law fashion manner speech and especially moral Behavior students feel almost like statistics at the big universities and personal relation ships between teachers and students that used to Prevail have disappeared and have broken down the St and as an individual and God looks upon you as an individual that he loves he has the hair of your head numbered he

sees the sparrow fall he loves you he's interested in you and he wants you to talk to him and tell him what your problems are and he will help you when you see a play on television or you see a movie almost everyone is saying what must I do to be saved out of my particular situation are you read a novel how is that person going to escape all of mankind is crying what must we do to be saved and this was what the Jailer was asking Paul and Silas what must I do to be

saved he said and it's the Cry of our world and the latter part of the 20th century and as we begin the next 2,000 years and Paul had a simple answer believe believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved but we don't want to do that Jesus said I am the way the truth and the light no man comes to the father but by me many people today would say that this Jailer was in no emotional state to make such a decision I think we need some more emotion in our faith we

have it at ball games we have it in the theater we have it everywhere except when we go to church I heard about a Baptist from Texas again and he was he was in one of those big cathedrals in Europe and he didn't think he would hear anything that would sound like Texas Baptist to him and they said the Apostles Creed the minister got up and read the 23rd psalm and then when the minister got up to give a short homy or short sermon he said some things he believed and so he said amen out

loud two or three times and everybody stopped and looked around at him thought he was crazy and an usher came to him and said sir you can't do that in here he said I've got religion and the Usher said but you didn't get it here now the Apostle Paul had been converted to Christ in a very dramatic way he was had turned against the Christians he was trying to kill them persecute them and he was on the way to Damascus to capture some more and bring them he was going to put them in prison and

all of a sudden he was stopped by a bright light and he fell down he was blinded and he said Lord what are you what what do you want he knew it was God and on that Damascus Road Paul was converted his name was Saul and it was changed to Paul and he was converted and he became the greatest Christian that has ever lived now that was a dramatic moment there was emotion to it the Bible teaches that we're to fear God Psalm 338 says let all the Earth fear the lord let all the inhabitants

of the world stand in awe of him we to ought to have fear the Judgment modern man doesn't like to think of God in terms of Wrath and anger and judgment but God is a god of judgment he's a god of love he loves you he loves you so much that he died on the cross for you and shed his blood for you and if you repent of your sins and receive him into your heart you'll be saved you'll go to heaven when you die you can have that Assurance right now and there are thousands

of people here tonight that have been baptized or you've been confirmed in the church and you're a good person but deep inside you're not certain that you really know Christ you're not certain that you're going to heaven and you want to be sure you'd like to be sure you can be sure before you leave this Stadium tonight if you make your commitment to Christ and we ought to fear the fact that we're going to judgment modern man doesn't like to think of God in terms of Wrath and anger and judgment he tries to remake God

to conform to his own wishful thinking and make himself comfortable in his sins This Modern God has the attributes of love and mercy and forgiveness but without judgment we don't like that word judgment we don't like that word hell how long has it been since you heard a sermon on Hell the Bible says he's appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained a Divinity School student stood up at Harvard and asked me in a discussion said can you tell me in plain and clear language

what must I do to be saved he asked me that question right in front of the faculty and the other students and I answered him I answered him as Paul answered believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou sh be saved after Peter had preached his great sermon at Pentecost the people were stirred in their hearts and they said to Peter what must we do what do we have to do 20th century man asked the same question that man has always asked are I remember when I was in Korea during the war there was a

chaplain that came to me and he said you know I've been to Seminary I have my degrees I've been pastor of a large church I was called to be professor at a seminary and the other day I was called to the side of a Dying boy out at a field hospital and he was dying and I didn't know what to tell him he asked asked me he said what must what can I do to find peace in my heart I know I'm dying and he said I didn't know what to tell him what would you

tell him the answer that Paul gave to this Jailer long ago is so simple that Millions stumble over it you don't have to straighten out your life first you don't have to go home and do something good in order to find Christ you do that after you've come to Christ we don't have to make ourselves well before going to a doctor Dr Henderson is sitting on the platform he sees sick people he doesn't see well people Jesus was called the Great physician he said it is not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick

I've not come to call the righteous but Sinners to repentance I'm a sinner Billy Graham is a sinner I needed to repent of my sin and receive Christ by faith and we're all Sinners so are you the blind man came to Jesus just as he was the Lea came just as he was Mary Magdalene with seven de Devils came just as she was you can come to Christ tonight just as you are you don't have to go and clean up anything you don't have to go change change clothes and put on your Sunday Best just

come as you are and say Lord I am just a person in need of Christ I need to know that I know Christ what do I have to do to believe you have to become as a little child the Bible says all the way through the New Testament that we enter the kingdom of God by faith there therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ in Ephesians 2 it says for by grace are you saved through faith now Grace means something you don't earn you don't work for it

you can't work your way to heaven you can't get good enough to get to heaven the word believe implies commitment surrender it doesn't mean that you believe everything or just anything you believe in the person of Christ and that word believe means that you commit your life to him you're not trusting anything for your future the little boy that I heard about he said you know this life is short but from what I've heard eternity is awfully long and said we better spend our time getting ready for eternity so when you come to commit your

life to Christ you commit your mind you commit your emotion you commit your will you commit your body the whole person is involved in this act of commitment neither is our Salvation in any other for there's none other name under Heaven given among men whereby we may be saved the Bible says for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved I'm asking you tonight by faith to call on him we received the love from a woman recently who said that she was brought up in a non-Christian home and I'll read you

a part of what she said she said although I was aware there must be a god somewhere I never gave him any thought and just carried on believing that I led a very happy good church life my nephew age 31 was killed in a car accident I wanted to know why he had died so young where had he gone where will I go when I die I really need to find out my husband bought me a Bible the first one I'd really ever owned I started to read seeking answers for myself and searching for myself

and one day I noticed in the paper about your Crusade that was going to be on television I watched and that night in front of the television set I committed myself to Christ God opened my eyes Everything Has Changed what about you is there a doubt in your heart if you died at this moment you'd go to heaven some of you may not be back to Cooper Stadium this week some of you are planning to come back but you may not make it because we never know what the next hour is going to bring forth

what the next day is going to bring forth now accepted time today is the day of salvation come while you can and I'm going to ask you to do something that we've seen thousands hundreds of thousands even Millions do I'm going to ask you to get up out of your seat and come and stand out here on this in front of me you can come all the way up here to this rope here and stand there that's all you do just stand that and after you've all come I'm going to say a word to you

and have a prayer with you and give you some literature and you can take it home and study it and help you in your Christian Life you say well Billy what does that mean now for me to come and just stand there what what that's going to do to me it's not going to do anything to you it means that you're saying to Christ I commit myself to you the best I know how I don't know all about it I don't understand the Bible I don't understand salvation I don't understand any of these things you've

been talking about but I know I need something in my life so I'm going to ask you to come now hundreds of you just get up out of your seats around here you may be in the choir you may be an officer in the church you may be a minister in the church most Crusades we have we even have clergy come to make a commitment they want to be sure about their relationship to Christ not the relationship to the church not the relationship to your family but relationship to Christ first and you need Christ in

your heart you come we're going to wait on you as these many people come just as hundreds here have responded to the invitation to make a public commitment to Jesus Christ you can too whatever you are just call the number on your screen right now special friends want to help you with the most important decision you can ever make so don't wait make that call now you that may watch on television you see these television cameras around they're not uh filming tonight to show it this week and next week or in the next month or

two this may be shown sometime before Christmas and there are people that participated in this service just like you have by watching on a screen at at home or in a hotel room or a bar or wherever they might be they can make the same commitment that you're making by surrendering their life to Christ and committing themselves to him make that commitment now if you just prayed that prayer with my father or if you have any questions about a relationship with Jesus Christ I would just call that number that is on the screen there'll be

someone there to talk with you pray with you and answer those questions questions and remember God loves you now tonight I want you to turn with me to acts the book of Acts the 11th chapter and the 26th verse and the latter part of the 26th verse the latter part of the 26th verse of the book of Acts we read these words and the disciples now the word disciple means learner or follower and the disciples were called Christians first at Antioch now Paul and Silas had been at Antioch preaching for many months they' been holding

Evangelistic Crusades getting hundreds of people to receive Christ they had established a great church and in derision the people round about them began to call them Christ one Christ followers Christians that's where the word Christian was first kind followers of Jesus Christ now tonight I want to speak on the subject how to live the Christian Life how to live the Christian Life I heard about a girl some years ago that heard as a girl one of Beethoven's sonatas and she possessed a strong desire to learn to play she had real musical ability but 20 years

later her neighbors had to endure and had to listen to her as she murdered Bova now what had happened she had never struggled with the five finger exercises and scales she had neglected to learn to play now there are many of you that have a strong desire to live the Christian Life you want to be a Christian you want to live the Christian Life but you've never learned how to live the Christian life now you've been told that you ought to be a Christian you've been told that you should live the Christian life but you've

never been told how I heard about a lady that said that she had a wonderful Pastor she said my pastor is a wonderful Minister and he's a wonderful pastor and we all love him at the church but for the life of me I cannot figure out what he wants us to do well tonight I want us to see something about living the Christian life but first of all first of all I want us to see what is a Christian what is a follower of Jesus Christ oh there are many people that have an idea that

if you're born in a Christian country that you're a Christian many people have an idea if you have Christian parents you're automatically a Christian but the Bible says you cannot inherit Christianity it's not by Flesh and Blood no the will of man there is nothing that you can do to automatically make yourself acceptable to the kingdom of God you can go to church you can live a decent life you can be a good moral virtuous person but that does not make you a Christian you can have uh Christian characteristics but that doesn't make you a

Christian there are thousands of people in America tonight that think they're Christian but in actuality they are not Christian in the narrowest sense of the ter they have never been born again they've never received Christ into their heart and if they died they would not go to heaven now a Christian is a person that has had a personal Encounter With Jesus Christ a Christian is a person that has made a decision for accepting Christ as Savior and Lord You've accepted him you've committed your life to him now the first first thing is a Christian is

a person that has made a choice you've made a decision you've had an encounter with the Living God you've received Christ into your heart that is the first step in being a Christian has that happened to you has there come a moment in your life when you repented of your sins when you acknowledged that you were a sinner when you said oh God I'm willing to turn from my sins and then by faith you reive Christ as your lord and savior now that's the starting point oh there are many people that are trying to live

the Christian life but Christ doesn't live in their heart because a Christian is a person in whom Christ dwells the moment you receive Christ the Holy Spirit comes into your heart and gives you a new moral nature and you have power and you have strength to live the Christian life now no one can live the Christian Life until first he's been to the cross and received Christ as saor Christ died on the cross Christ shed his blood for our sins but you must come and receive Christ that is an act of your will intellectually you

say yes I believe but that's not enough emotionally you might have had emotional experience but that's not enough by your will you must say I will receive Christ I will give my life to Christ but then after that something else must take place the second thing is a change must take place in your life the Bible says old things have passed away behold All Things become new there must be a definite change in the way you live a change in your attitude a change in your attitude toward God you must love God supremely you must

put God first in all the choices and decisions of your life there must be a change in your attitude toward yourself no longer are you egocentric no longer are you selfish no longer is everything done just for self and to please self there must also be a change in your attitude toward your neighbor you must love your neighbor as yourself and so there must be a change in your life old things pass away behold All Things become new I heard about a man one time in the olden days that used to Hitch his horse in

front of the saloon and he was converted to Christ at a Methodist meeting at the Methodist Church and the next day came the Methodist Church and the bartender came out and said what's the matter you've hitched your horse here for 10 years and now you're hitching it over there why he said I was converted last night I received Christ and he said I've changed pitching post and that's exactly what we should do change hitching Po and if there is no evidence of a change in your life then then you better check up to see whether

you're really a Christian or not because if your life hasn't been changed if you're not bearing the fruit that God gives you when you come to Christ then you better start doubting whether you really met Christ or not because the child of God a change has taken place Jesus said by their fruit shall ye know them by their fruit what are the fruits the fruits of the spirit are love and joy and peace and longsuffering and all the others are you living the Christian Life have you given yourself to Jesus Christ do you know that

you've had this encounter with him and has a change taken place in the way you live and in your attitudes if not you may not be a Christian you may be living in a Fool's Paradise you may think that you're a Christian but you're not because a Christian is a person that has received Christ and A change is taking place in the way he lives thirdly a Christ CHR is a person that has accepted a challenge the challenge of Christ Christ said If any man will come after me let him deny self take up his

cross and follow me in Moscow tonight thousands of young people are being challenged I'm glad to say that the American young people as far as I can gather that are there have not accepted the challenge of Communism that communism is challenging ing millions of young people Jesus Christ also offers a challenge he says unless you're willing to accept my Challenge and to live for me you cannot be my follower oh in our churches today we're busy building astronomical figures to turn in our reports and all of that is fine and good but Jesus was busy

eliminating people every time a crowd collected Around Jesus and the crowd got too big he said wait a minute he said if you're going to follow me you'll have to deny self that eliminated one crowd then if the crowd was still too big he'd say if you're going to follow me you'll have to take up a cross and follow me well that eliminated most of the rest of them because they didn't want to go to the cross the cross was the electric chair the cross was The Gallows in that day and Jesus said if you're

going to follow me you'll have to take up your electric chair you'll have to take up your place of execution the unpopularity that comes with following me and most people are not willing to do that most people are not willing to take their stand for Christ most people are not willing to stand up and be counted when it comes to surrendering to Christ I ask you tonight are you sure that you're a Christian are you sure that your sins are forgiven are you sure if you died you'd go to heaven are you sure that you're

ready to meet God in the strictest sense of the term I ask you tonight are you a Christian are you you're sure of it if I had a doubt in my heart tonight that I was ready to meet God you couldn't drag me out of Madison Square Garden till I'd settled it make sure give your life to Christ tonight come and receive him all right that's a Christian Christ dwelling in the heart a personal encounter with Christ receiving Christ as Savior and Lord that is a Christian but how to live the Christian Life that's another

thing how to live the Christian in life all right about 14 I think it was 14 years ago I got married for about 2 years I woed my wife and I'll tell you that was some doing to win her I worked hard for two years finally we stood up in front of the minister now I could have admired my wife which I did but I still wasn't married I could have thought she was lovely and beautiful and believed in her but that didn't make me married to her I had to stand in front of the

minister and he said wilt thou have this woman to be thy wited wife and I said I will and then he pronounced this man and wife then will we married a public decision I came publicly before a Congregation of people with Witnesses on every hand and took Ruth to be my wted wife I said I will it was a matter of the will just believing in her wasn't enough just going and having Sunday dinner at her folks's home wasn't enough just loving her wasn't enough I had to say I will and just believing in Christ

is not enough the Bible says the devil believes in temp just saying he's a wonderful person is not enough just going to Sunday dinner at the church is not enough you must by an act of your will say I will receive him as my own Savior and Lord have you done that but then I found out something that a lot of married a lot of kids don't think about the ceremony was only the beginning now when you come and accept Jesus Christ that's only the beginning 10 years 20 years 30 years 40 years 50 years

60 years you live together you work together you plan together your life meshes together and marriage is work it's not a honeymoon all the time mine is but yours I don't think is most of you now the Christian Life is the same way you receive Christ you say to Christ I will and the Bible says you're wedded to Christ he's the bridegroom with the bride but now there comes the years of following Christ and living for Christ and if you want to grow you must follow certain rules to grow in Christ now the Bible teaches

that you start out after you receive Christ you start out as a tiny baby just a tiny little baby you're not a full grown Christian you walk in church on Sunday morning after receiving Christ and sometimes some of the Christians will say I wonder if he's going to last wonder if the poor little thing will hold out you shouldn't do that you should welcome these new people and love them and encourage them and help them that they might grow you're supposed to grow but here's the tragedy in the Christian church today the terrible tragedy when

my little boy said his first word he said Dad Dad at least I think that's what he said I I was told that's what he would say Dad Dad we were thrilled to death he had learned to talk Dad Dad but suppose 20 years from now he would still come up to me and say Dad Dad there'd be something wrong and yet there are many of you that same way you haven't grown a bit you're still going around after 20 years of being a Christian saying Dad Dad you've been stunted you haven't grown you go

to a prayer meeting and the minister says well let's everybody say a verse around somebody says John 3:16 you say oh she got my verse that's all you knew you haven't learned the Bible and if somebody calls on you to pray you say well I I'm sorry I don't I can't pray and yet you claim to be a Christian the Christian Life is one of growth we start out as children and we grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ now some quick rules first the first rule is one in prayer we have to spend

time every day in prayer the disciples came up to Jesus and they said Lord teach us to pray now you have to learn to walk don't you you have to learn to ride a bicycle don't you you learn to ride a horse all right you have to learn to pray you learn to pray in the same way Lord teach us to pray now remember in living this Christian life you don't have to live it alone but the Holy Spirit lives in you the moment you receive Christ as your savior the Holy Spirit comes to live

in you to give you the power the strength the wisdom the courage to live the Christian life now the Holy Spirit also helps in your prayer life the scripture says likewise the spirit also helpeth our infirmities for we know not what we should pray for as we ought but the spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered the Holy Spirit helps you to pray now may I make a suggest there are so many people that say well I don't feel like praying I only pray when I feel like it then you're

wrong you should have a definite time and place every day to pray you have an appointment you have an interview with almighty God suppose you had an interview with President eow tomorrow morning you'd get out and say well I don't feel like seeing the president this morning I suppose you were going to be presented to the queen well I don't feel like it this morning no you'd be there you'd be dressed in your best you'd go and present yourself to the queen well every day God the king of kings and Lord of lords is waiting

he has given you an audience at any time of the day and you fail to keep your appointment have a definite time that you set aside and pray when you least feel like it the will is involved here too you say I don't feel like it all right your your emotion your body says I don't feel like it my mind says I don't feel like praying my will makes me go and spend time in prayer because prayer is work prayer is work and many times you make yourself keep your appointment with God and out of

some of those moments come your most precious moments and some of your greatest answers to prayer and then the second thing is reading the Bible now the purpose of the Bible is to testify of Jesus Christ the Bible from Genesis to Revelation points to Christ on Thursday night of this week I'm going to tell you how to study the Bible how to read the Bible how to understand the Bible I only touch on it tonight job said I have esteemed the words of his mouth more more than my necessary food the Bible says desire the

sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby now the Bible says that not only do we grow physically but down inside of you is a soul physically you have eyes and ears and nose and hands and feet but living inside of you is your personality your soul your mind your memory your personality that is your soul that is your spirit now if you spend all of your time on your physical development most of you look like you've eaten three pretty good meals today you haven't neglected eating today have you you didn't neglect dressing

looking in the mirror taking care of your physical needs but what about your spiritual needs you've taken care of your physical needs today but none for the soul and the soul is going to live forever the body dies and goes to the grave but the soul lives on and you spent all your time feeding your body but none for the soul now how do you feed the soul what is the food you give to the soul it is reading the Bible the word of God and I don't care who you are you cannot live a

Victorious life if you neglect Bible reading and bible study every time a person comes to me and says I'm not getting my prayers answered I have no victory in my life I have no joy in my life I don't have the peace in my life that I know I should have as a Christian I ask them one question are you reading your Bible daily and studying your Bible usually the answer they bow their head and say no not very much God has a message for you in this book read it study it meditate on it

now here's how to read the Bible read it reverently it's an interview with almighty God read read it with expectancy come to the Bible expecting God to speak to you and read till he does speak to you now maybe you'll only read one verse meditate on that verse maybe you'll read a whole chapter meditate on that chapter come with expectancy that every time you open the scriptures God has a message for you and then read it with dependence the Holy Spirit inspired the writing of this book and the Holy Spirit can interpret this book to

you and I have come to many points in the Bible that I did not understand and I would get on my knees and I say Lord show it to me and I found the meaning of that passage on my knees by the Holy Spirit and then take ad adequate time with the Bible don't just read a verse and do it as a duty and as a ritual and close the Bible take time take 15 20 30 minutes and you ought to do it every morning before you leave your room in the morning or before you

leave the house spend a half an hour in prayer and bible study and Bible reading and I'll tell you the day will go totally different you'll be walking on air there will be a joy in your soul there'll be a spring in your steps there'll be a smile on your face there'll be a total different attitude toward life if you will get in the habit of reading your Bible and spending time in prayer every morning and then thirdly if you're going to live the Christian Life there must be discipline in your life it's a way

of discipline the Christian Life is a way of renunciation and hardship Jesus said narrow is the gate that leads to eternal life the Bible tells us that a Christian is a soldier who must suffer hardship thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ said Paul to Timothy the Christian is likened to a boxer who Masters his own body and practices self-restraint and all the way through the New Testament you'll read words like this describing the Christian Life fight wrestle run work suffer endure resist agonize put to death all of these the New

Testament words describing the Christian Life it is to be a disciplined life we discipline our minds the things that we read the things that we think no evil thoughts are to come into our minds and if they do they are to be expelled immediately our minds are to be disciplined so that we don't spend our time reading trash and literature that does not develop the mind and develop the soul or watching the wrong types of television programs we don't throw our time away we don't let our minds run idle our minds are disciplined our tongues

are disciplined too we say set a watch oh Lord before my mouth our time is disciplined we redeem the time because the days are evil these little minutes still these little bits of Jewel that God gives us every day these little Jewels they can never be recalled they have to be dedicated to Christ this body of mine is the Temple of the Holy Spirit which is in me the Bible says that with my body there is to be self-control self-control meekness blessed are the meek said Jesus that's what meekness means it means Temperance self-control I'm

to live a discipline life oh today how little discipline we have in the way we live how little discipline we have in our Christian experience and our Christian life and that's the reason thousands of Christians are failing there is no discipline there must be discipline and then next in the Christian Life there is the church you've heard of Robertson cruso Christians haven't you trying to live solitary Christian lives I tell you the Bible doesn't know anything about it the Christian Fellowship is not optional it's essential it's commanded we are not to forsake the assembling of

ourselves together the Bible teaches that the church is like a Vine with its many branches it's like living stones built together members of the body of Christ all knit together now the church may have its local churches well you say I'm a member of the great universal church but I'm not a member of any local church or assembly that's like saying well I'm in the Navy but I'm not going to go any ship like the United Nations I was over at the United Nations on Monday and had a wonderful talk with Mr hammerer and I

looked out of the window and saw those flags of the United Nations and I said here's one organization but it has its many local constituencies all over the world in the form of Nations and states and here we have the great church the body of Christ Christ but it has its local branches all over and one may be called Lutheran one may be Baptist one may be Presbyterian whatever the name may be if it's a place where Christ is preached if it's a place where Christ is exalted we have to go there and give it

everything we have in the work of the church the church is to worship together it's a place where we give our tithes and offering Springs to the work of the Lord I hope you'll go to church tomorrow this is Saturday night let all of us be in the Lord's place of worship tomorrow all across America let's go to church God has commanded it and I want to tell you you cannot live a Victorious Christian Life and have the peace and the joy in your heart without faithfulness in the church stand with your church oh there's

some people that say well I'm looking for a perfect church then you'll never find it because if you joined it if you found a perfect church and you joined it it would be imperfect you'll never find a perfect church I traveled all over the world and I've seen hundreds of different types of churches and I've never seen a perfect one yet and this side of Glory there never will be Jesus had a little band of men with him 12 of them it was imperfect Judas betrayed him Peter denied him when the chips were down at

the cross cross the rest of them forsook him there is no such thing as a perfect body on Earth get into the church and get to work for Christ and then last of all the Christian is to witness for Christ now how do you witness you witness by the way you live the smile the courtesy the thoughtfulness the graciousness your winess witnessing for Christ and if you live a changed life in which Christ is living in you and radiating out through you other people will be attracted to you and they'll say what's your secret and

you'll say I know Jesus Christ and you have an opportunity to witness for Christ witness in the home witness in your daily work we are not to be slothful in business but servant in spirit serving the lord we to witness by the way we perform our work we have to work Faithfully if you're a worker and a factor you have to do it Faithfully as unto the Lord you don't work just for the employer you don't work just for the union to make them happy you work for the Lord if you're an employee you work

for Christ he is the one that you're responsible to if you're a Christian the Bible says that Christians are pilgrims here we're ambassadors for Christ the Bible says we're A peculiar people set apart under Christ and we are to be shining Witnesses in a perverse and wicked Generation all around we see lying and hypocrisy and dishonesty and lust and we see worldliness on every side men taken up with materialism oh give your life to Jesus Christ and let him live in you and be a shining witness for Christ become salt in your community become a

light in your community let the people know where you stand for Christ live a clean and honest and pure and wholesome life I want to ask you tonight are you a Christian are you living that kind of a life or I'm not asking do you have Christian influence I'm not asking are you a member of certain church I'm asking you tonight have you had this encounter with Christ has this change taken place in your life have you accepted the challenge of following Christ are you living a faithful life under him if not you can start

tonight right now right now you can say Lord I give you my life I give you my heart I give you my soul I want Christ to come in and forgive my sins and my failure I want to follow and serve him I want to know my sins are forgiven I want to know that I'm going to heaven I want a change in my life and in my home I want a change in the place I work I want to become a light for Christ I want to become a witness for Christ I want the

joy of living for Christ how many people claim to be Christians but they don't have any peace in their life there's no joy There's No Love in their life there's no walk with with Christ there's no thrill they get angry quickly they're sensitive they're jealous they're filled with pride I tell you the Christian Life was never meant to be that way give your life to Christ and make sure that he lives in your heart some of you give your life to Christ tonight for the first time others of you can come and rededicate your life

and say tonight I'm going to surrender my life to Christ a new and a fresh I'm going to give myself to him all over this place God is speaking to hundreds and thousands of people all of you that will come tonight and receive Christ and say I'm going to begin I give myself to him I come to the foot of his cross renouncing my sins and failures I'm coming and give myself to him as Savior and Lord I'm going to ask you to come I'm going to ask you to come out of your seats from

all over this great building from up in the balconies all around you come and stand quietly right here in front and say tonight I give myself to Christ if you're with friends and relatives they'll wait on you if you're in a delegation they'll wait on you but I'm going to ask you to come right now while every head is bowed and every eyes closed and the choir sings softly just as I am men women young people and I'm going to warn you about something you cannot come to Christ anytime you want to you can only

come when the spirit of God is speaking and tonight the spirit of God is speaking to hundreds of people people here he's speaking to you there you can give your life to Christ right now and say tonight I give myself to him many of you are church members many of you are Christians but you need to rededicate your life to God you need to promise God that from now on you're going to live the right kind of a Christian Life you're going to be the right type of a Christian I'm going to ask you to

give your life to him now from all over the building hundreds of you you come and stand here right now just get up out of your sleep right now and come and say tonight I give myself to Christ we're going to wait and after you've come we're going to have a moment of prayer a verse of scripture say a word to you before you come or before you go and if you're with friends or relatives they'll wait you can go back and join them but you come now and stand here as an indication that you're

saying to God I will I will trust Christ the choir is going to sing while they're singing you come right right now bat ride quickly right up out of your