Billy Graham - Who is Jesus? - Chicago 1971

I'm going to ask that we all bow our heads in prayer every head bowed and every eye closed for many thousands of people here today this will be an hour of decision and you will never be the same today even if you refuse Christ you'll never be the same once youve faced him once you've heard the gospel and rejected it you can never be the same it says when the Rich Young Ruler rejected Christ he turned away grieved emotionally disturbed because when you reject the claims of Christ that's a very serious thing it will be

an hour of decision for many of you who receive him today your life will never be the same your home will never be the same so let's listen carefully and prayerfully today and reverently to the message of the word of God shall we pray Our Father we thank thee for this love of God that reaches around the world and engulfs all of mankind thou do love the Russians and the Chinese as much as thou love the British or the Americans or the African thou do love the whole world and thou do send thy son to

die for the whole world and we're all included in thy Redemption plan and we thank thee that at this hour of History we can stand and Proclaim good news that God is love and that God is willing to forgive we pray that many this day will receive that message accept it and act on it and live by it for we ask it in his name amen we've been having a marvelous time here in Chicago I think clip has already told you how big this building is there's no indoor arena in the world except the Astrodome

in Houston Texas that's bigger than this and here today thousands of people just about filled to capacity today as it has been almost every night during this Crusade except I think the opening night but we've had gigantic crowds that have come here to this great Arena night after night and we've seen thousands of people coming forward to make their commitment to Christ now today I want you to turn with me to Luke's gospel the 11th chapter the 11th chapter of Luke's gospel beginning with verse 29 beginning with verse 29 I hope you have your [Applause]

Bibles how many have a Bible today lift them up look at the Bibles thousands of Bibles everywhere now the 29th chap oh the 11th chapter and the 29th verse of Luke's gospel and when the people were gathered thick together he began to say this is an evil generation they seek a sign and there shall no sign be given it but the sign of Jonah the prophet for as Jonah was a sign unto Nineveh so shall also the son of man be to this generation the queen of the South shall rise up in the Judgment with

the men of this generation and condemn them for she came from the utmost parts of the the Earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon and behold a greater than Solomon is here the men of Nineveh shall rise up in the Judgment with this generation and shall condemn it for they repented at the preaching of Jonah and behold a greater than Jonah is here now ancient Israel wanted Jesus to do something Sensational to prove that he was really the son of God but Jesus is saying In this passage you're seeking for a sign all right I'll

give you a sign I am the sign and Jesus was saying that the people of Jonah's day listen to the message of God and repented and they're going to rise up at the Judgment as Witnesses against the people of Jesus day that rejected him he said the queen of the South recognize the wisdom of Solomon but he said in me you have a greater wisdom than all the wisdom of Solomon he said you're blind you cannot see the truth you're deaf and you cannot hear the truth he said I'm the truth I'm the light of

the world I'm the sign now when You Face Jesus what is your reaction when you're confronted with Jesus Christ what is your reaction the reaction of the scribes and the Pharisees was one of hostility the people of nineveh's day were humbled and repented when they faced and confronted God and the question that we all all ask today is this question what think ye of Christ there's a rock opera at the moment called Jesus Christ the Superstar all over the country thousands of young people are talking about Christ they can't escape him there's a Broadway play

right now entitled God spell a musical version of St Matthew's gospel there's a new movie right now called brother John in which Sydney poier plays Jesus Christ in the form of an Alabama black man the front cover of Life magazine a few weeks ago ran Jesus Christ Superstar and this rock opera from England was confronting young people with one question who is Jesus Christ an 87 minute long electronic probe into the life of Jesus who is Jesus and the Opera concludes with the voice of Judas coming back from the dead and still questioning who Jesus

is don't get me wrong says Judas in the Opera I only want to know and then the haunting chorus follows Jesus Christ Superstar do you think you are what they say you are Jesus Christ do you think you are what they say you are it's interesting to me that in 1971 the plays the books the operas the movies about Jesus our generation cannot Escape Jesus and when good news for modern man came out a new translation of the New Testament by the American Bible Society they sold 25 million copies we cannot Escape Jesus I've never

heard of an opera or a play even about Buddha or Muhammed or Gandhi but our generation has become hung up on Jesus young people are talking about Jesus he's the subject of conversation today on the campus in the high schools everywhere young people are discussing Jesus Christ and they're asking the question who is he who is this Jesus we cannot Escape him you remember that day when Saul who was persecuting Christians was on the road to Damascus and a blinding light came and he fell down and the first question he asked was who art thou

Lord the question that our generation of young people on the campus are asking today is who art thy Lord who is Jesus why cannot we escape him why is he in our conscience and in our mind so that our plays and our poems and our operas are about him is he just a revolutionary hero why is see something more he only lived 33 years he never traveled more than 100 miles he never had any formal education and yet 2,000 years later an entire generation is talking about Jesus Christ some say that he was a Madman

some of the people of his day said he was mad said he was a maniac was he there were others that said he was revolutionary he'd come to lead a Revolution was he a revolutionary in the sense that he changed men's lives he was but he never led a revolution against Rome he never led a revolution against the existing authorities as a matter of fact some of them tried to get him to and some of them thought he was going to to and when they found out that he was building a spiritual Kingdom they were

no longer interested in him and when they tried to tempt him about that he said bring me a coin and he said who pictures on that coin they said Caesar he said all right render to Caesar the things that are Caesars and to God the things that are gods and the scripture says they quit asking him questions they didn't know how to answer that or was Jesus an establishment man some people say that he represented the status quo some people say that Jesus Christ is the one upon which which Western culture has been built and

that America is really Jesus organization on Earth well I want to tell you if his organization depends on the bureaucracy we've built up in Washington we're finished there's not much hope for the world Jesus Christ is not the establishment Christ he's building another kingdom he's building an eternal Kingdom and then there's some people that say that he was the first hippie they said he had long hair went around with his disciples in a commune you know actually we don't know what he looked like we don't know whether he had a long beard or not those

are just pictures that artists have painted we think he did we don't know whether he had long hair or not he probably did because the people of that day that was the style but we don't know we don't have a picture of Jesus and God did that purposely so that we would not be worshiping an [Music] image because God is a spirit and must be worshiped in spirit and then there were people that said that he was deliberately evil that he was an evil man that he was a devil what was he that's the question

Jesus Christ who are you who is Jesus we can't escape him we try to run from him but there he is he keeps popping up everywhere our greatest philosophers write about him our greatest historians write about him our greatest poems and plays are about him our greatest architectur is about him even in the Soviet Union you go to the Kremlin I've been in the Kremlin and it's all filled with paintings and pictures about Jesus you go anywhere in the Soviet Union and you'll see images and art and much of the music has to do with

Jesus they can't escape him well we know some things about him we know he was a man Jesus was completely human he was representative of man because the Bible says he was identified he was numbered with the transgressors we know that he was hungry we know he got thirsty we know he got tired we know that he had the joys of friendship we know that he wept at the tomb of a dead loved one we know that he had all the characteristics of a man and yet very interestingly the Bible says that he never committed

a sin in fact he stood in front of the people of his generation and he said I've never committed a sin he said if any of you my neighbors ever seen me commit a sin they couldn't say a thing and wouldn't that be something for a man to come along 33 years of age and say who of you have ever seen me commit a sin well I'll tell you if I said that all my team would jump straight up and say I have my wife's here all of us are sinners but Jesus was tempted in

every Point like as we are he went through every Temptation you've ever been through there isn't a trial or a testing or a Temptation that Jesus has not been through before you and he resisted them and and overcame them all everyone he was a man just like you but he was more than that he claimed to be the unique only begotten incarnate Son of God in fact he claimed pre-existence the scripture says in the beginning was the word and the Word was with God Before Time began he existed he said before Abraham was I am

I am in Eternal existence no wonder they got angry no wonder they threw stones at him no wonder they tried to kill him and no wonder they eventually did crucify him he stood and said I am God was he was he who that he claimed to be the son of the Living God one day he asked his disciples who do men say that I am and Peter answered and said well some of them say you're John the Baptist come back or you're Jeremiah or you're Elijah he said I'm really not interested in what the people

say I'm interested Peter in what you say what do you say Peter said Thou Art the Christ the son of the Living God and Jesus said Peter you've done well you've passed your examination but Peter those are not your thoughts those thoughts came from God it has been revealed to you by God Jesus Christ claimed to be the son of the Living God and you know at his Incarnation or his birth that was not his birth or that wasn't the beginning that wasn't the origin of Jesus that was the beginning that was the beginning of

his Incarnation because he has always existed from Everlasting to Everlasting he is God the Bible says and the Word was made flesh and dwelt Among Us in other words the logos the word of God the Eternal God became flesh in the person of Jesus Christ and lived Like A man among us that's what the Bible teaches and when you come to Jesus Christ you have to accept that he wasn't just another revolutionary he wasn't just another hippie he was not just another another great man he was God In the Flesh and all the ethics that

he taught never a man spake like that man when you get hit on one side he says turn the other cheek he never said what to do after that but he did say forgive 70 times seven count that up how about the little irritations from your wife or your husband 70 * 7 you forgive my wife once said that the secret of a happy marriage is two good forgivers and that's what it is two good forgivers people that can forgive each other Jesus taught that we're to forgive he taught a revolution in the way we

are to live he taught us that it wasn't just our outward actions that God judges but it the inward thoughts and intents he said Moses said that in the Ten Commandments Thou shalt not commit adultery but I tell you that if you even look on a woman to lust after you've already committed it he said Moses said Thou shalt not murder but I tell you if you have Hate in Your Heart against your brother without cause you're already guilty he lifted man's ethics to the highest plane and demanded that we live that kind of a

life he himself live that kind of a life and the scripture says that he judges the inside the Attorney General of the United States said the other day that America is imperiled more from within than without and so are you here today in your personal life David said in sin did my mother conceive me Jesus said out of the heart precede evil thoughts and murders and adulteries and thefts and blasphemies all the evil in the world comes from the human heart that's got to be changed and that's why Jesus said you must be born again

you must be converted you must have a new beginning and he can do it how do you explain Jesus Jesus Christ are you what you say you are you know they only brought three charges against him to crucify him one they said this man loves Sinners that was one charge the second he healed on the Sabbath day and the third he claimed to be the Son of God was he the Son of God look at his authority Jesus came and to them and spake unto them saying all authority has been given to me I know

one thing he forgave sin and no Prophet ever did that Jesus himself forgave sin he said thy sins have forgiven Thee I know that he had authority over nature one day he one night he was in a storm the lightning was flashing the Thunder was roaring the sea was raging the wind was blowing the disciples were afraid and Jesus was asleep in the boat and he stood up in the boat and said peace be still the lightning quit its flashing and the Thunder quit its roaring and the rain ceased to fall and the wind quieted

down and the Sea quieted down and nature obeyed him and our young people believe that today because one of their top Tunes at the moment is put put your hand in the hand of the one who calmed the sea he calmed the sea he had power over nature I was flying Cliff Bars and some of us were flying some time ago I think we were leaving we went a typhoon leaving the Philippines and uh just before we got out of the typhoon I was the captain of the plane had invited me to sit up front

with him and it was fairly smooth we had a lot of rain and all it wasn't too rough but all of a sudden the plane hit something it seemed to me as though it had hit a wall it jolted and jerked and quivered and went up and down for about 2 minutes and then all of a sudden we plunged out into brilliant Sunshine into smooth air and the captain turned to me with the perspiration coming down his face he said you know he said that was God telling us there's something up here more powerful than

this airplane but Jesus could take a storm like that and turn it around he could take the lightning and throw it back in the cloud he has power over nature why because he's the god of nature those are his laws they're obeying him he had authority over disease I read the other day where midong in China claims to have cured Ed 80% of all the deaf people in China and one of those men that came back on the pingpong team said that mounty dong is the Jesus Christ of China today they talk about personality cult

looks like to me they've got quite a personality over there but Jesus did make the blind to see he made the deaf to hear he made the dumb to talk he raised the Dead according to the record he had authority over demons you say Bly do you believe in demons I surely do and Jesus confronted demons time after time and he could cast them [Applause] out and people that were insane under the powers of demons would regain their sanity and then look at the death he died did ever a man die like Jesus the lightning

flashed and the Thunder roared and the Earth began to shake and even the soldiers confessed that this must be the Son of God anyone that can see Jesus on that cross and not be touched has a Heart of Stone they first took off his clothes then they took long leather thongs with steel pellets or lead pellets on the end and beat him across the back until he could hardly stand up then they put a crown of thorns on his brow and his face was bleeding and they laughed at him and they spit on him and

they mocked him and with one snap of his finger 72,000 Angels had already drawn their swords ready to come to his rescue and wipe this planet out of existence in the universe and Jesus said no to this end was I born and he dragged and lifted and haul that cross and don't you black people ever forget one thing the man that help Jesus carry that cross was a black man and don't ever forget another thing Jesus belongs to Africa as much as he does to Europe and Asia he was born in that part of the

world that touches Africa and Asia and Europe and Jesus was not a white man like me nor was he as black as some of you we don't know what the color of his skin but it must have been a dark color like the people of his day because he was a man like them don't ever say it's a white man's religion or a black man's religion it's a world religion he belongs to the world when he died on that cross and they nailed him they put the nails in his hands and you know what he

said forgive them they know not what they do forgive them could you forgive some somebody that's putting nails in your hands and you know you didn't deserve it he didn't squirm he didn't yell he didn't scream he just took it and said Lord forgive them they don't know what they're doing that's how he confronted the violence of his day and then on the cross he said my God why hast Thou forsaken me and then he dropped his head and said it's finished what did he mean he meant your Plan of Salvation was finished God can

now forgive you of all your sins because Jesus had finished God's plan for your salvation because you see God knows every one of you by name he has the ha of your head numbered God looks upon you as though you were the only person in the whole universe he sees you and you alone and on that cross Jesus had the capacity to think of you and he loved you enough to stay on the cross was there ever such love as that when he could have been rescued and taken back to heaven and to sit on

his throne but he didn't he said no I'm doing it for the joy that that is set before me because he saw that he would be raised from the dead he saw that there would be a gathering in the generations to come of a people for his name that would make up his body he saw the day when we will reign with him in his kingdom yes they laid him away in a tomb and that's where Jesus Christ Superstar leaves him but out in Kansas City some people got a hold of the rock opera and

they carried it right on to the next step the resurrection and if you don't have the resurrection you don't have any gospel Jesus Christ is alive and when they went out to the tomb that morning they heard the greatest news the world is ever known he is not here he is risen he is alive today and the thing that inspired the disciples to turn the world upside down in their day was the resurrection they went everywhere declaring that Jesus is Alive you know some of us Christians live as though Jesus Is Dead He's Not Dead

He's Alive oh you're going through your troubles and your trials and your Temptations and your testings and your pressures and you're under satanic attack all the time constantly you know I think I in many ways in some ways it's easier not to be a Christian in this world because the devil may leave you alone the moment you receive Christ as Savior you're in for it unless you live on your knees and live in the scriptures and keep your guard up and have your Spiritual armor on at all times because if you let down even one

day as a Christian you're in trouble the moment you receive Christ you see all the world is going this way you turn around and start against the tide as a Christian and that's hard but you know it's hard to be a sinner too the older you get because the Bible says the way of the transgressor is hard I watch sometimes the programs on television where they have crime I have never in my life seen criminals work so hard for the money they get it looks like to me they could get a legitimate business and have

a much easier time to get their money they work at it that is according to the script and I'm sure they do in real life Jesus Christ is alive and if he's not risen from the dead if he's is not alive then there is no such thing as Christianity we're yet in our sins Paul said and the whole thing's a farce forget it and then the people that have received Christ what has happened to them we had a fellow here the other night that was a Black Panther leader he said that he thought he could

change the world through the Black Panther the movement until he said he met Jesus and he said Jesus changed his life and took all the hate out now he said I believe the world can be changed but he said I believe it can be done with Jesus power that's it Jesus coming into our hearts you know if I had if I had no proof whatsoever no scientific proof that Jesus ever lived I still would trust him because of what he's done for me the joy and the peace and the security and the love that he's

given to me his grace that is mine [Music] today and then the satisfaction that he gives to those who have trusted him who art thou Lord Jesus Christ are you who you say you are this is the question that every one of you today are going to have to answer who is Jesus if Jesus claimed to be God knowing he wasn't God then he's a liar and we will have to say Jesus you're a liar you're a fraud and a hoax and you're the biggest fraud in the history of the human race or if Jesus

thought he was God and did not know the difference then he desperately needed mental help he needed several psychiatrist the third alternative is that he was who he claims to be God In the Flesh I believe that the evidence is overwhelming that he is who he claims to be the son of the Living God but I cannot prove it scientifically but I can prove it by the lives that he transforms every day I can prove it because in my heart I don't say I think I hope I say I know and you know there's another

element in our lives that we don't think much about and that's the element of Faith you think of the faith that you have to have every day you have to have faith that your wife didn't put poison in your coffee this morning you have to have faith in her she might have felt like it but she didn't you have to have faith in the bank when you write a check and sign it and you have money in the bank you have to have faith that the bank's going to pay it you you have to have

faith in the government when you pull out a dollar bill now I know it's shrinking but you have faith that back of it is a dollar that people will accept it as money everything we do is by faith now for example when I come up on a hill and I live in the mountains of North Carolina and we have a lot of Hills I don't stop my car before I get to the crest of the hill and get out and walk over and see if somebody's coming up the other side on the wrong side I

have faith to believe that the drivers are going to stay on their side faith faith faith everything when you sat in that chair had you ever sat in that chair before I bet you didn't pick it up and examine it and put your hands on it to see if it'll hold you by faith you just sat down in it you had faith that people wouldn't build a chair that wouldn't hold you everything we do is by faith all right take the same Faith put it in Jesus Christ to is your lord and savior and you

will know who Jesus is you accept him by faith and he comes into your life and into your heart and you know that he's who he claims to be on that Damascus Road that I referred to a moment ago the Apostle Paul said who art thou Lord and then Paul asked him another question Paul said what do you want me to do Lord and Jesus said arise and go I'm asking you today to arise and come to him now some of you can ridicule some of you can reject him some can just put it off

and say I'm going to wait till another time or you can accept it as your lord and your savior and your master and the Son of God and he will come into your heart and forgive your sin and change your life Jesus Christ Superstar Judas don't get me wrong I only want to know he said and then the haunting chorus Jesus Christ Superstar Do You Think You Are are what they say you are yes and more 10,000 times more than two men in England ever put in those lyrics is Jesus Christ the son of God

and you are asked today to receive him in fact if you're going to go to heaven the Bible teaches you have to receive him if you're going to have your sins forgiven you have to receive it and I'm going to ask you to do it today and I'm going to ask you to do it publicly how do you do it I'm going to ask hundreds of you to get up out of your seat right now and come and stand in front of this platform quietly and reverently and say I want Christ in my heart I

want him to forgive my sin I want to know I'm going to heaven I want him to change my life I receive him as my Lord and Savior if you're with friends or relatives or in a delegation they'll wait if you've come in a bus they'll wait why do I ask you to come follow because every person Jesus ever called in the New Testament he called publicly you come publicly and openly and declare yourself you may be Protestant you may be Catholic you may be Jewish you may be Orthodox or you may not have any

religion but God has spoken to you today and you know that you need Christ you come and make sure right now we're going to wait and I'm going to ask that no one leave the service please not at this holy moment I know you want to go because of the crowd but don't leave just get up and come right now quickly from everywhere hundreds of you we're going to wait from all over the stadium as God is speaking you may be in the choir and this may be your last moment with God you may never

have another hour like this you come [Music] for me [Music] [Applause] [Music] and to my soul Our God [Music] to of God God [Music] God [Music] you that are watching by television there are hundreds of people coming here at McCormick Place in Chicago to make their commitment to Jesus Christ to accept him as their lord their savior as their Master as the son of the Living God I'm going to ask you to make that same commitment where you are at home I'm praying that you'll make that decision God help you to do it and I

hope that you'll go to church next Sunday God bless you oh [Music]