Billy Graham: Almost Persuaded

I'm going to ask this vast audience if you can sit patiently for just a few more minutes be as quiet as you can thousands of people have driven here for many many miles in fact people have come here from the west coast from the south from the East Coast from all over America to attend this service today and I think that all of us should be quiet no one moving sit where you are there's a wonderful breeze even though it's hot and it's getting cooler all the time as we go into the late afternoon what a lovely day this is and I told a lot of you to bring your umbrellas for rain but I'm glad you brought them for the Sun instead now today I want you to turn with me for our last message to the 28th verse of the 26th chapter of the book of Acts the 26th chapter of Acts and the 28th verse if you have your Bibles and I hope you brought your Bibles here's a very important passage in the book of Acts then Agrippa said unto Paul almost thou persuaded me to become a Christian almost they'll persuaded me to become a Christian I want you to get the picture in this passage of Scripture the Apostle Paul is a prisoner he is a prisoner of Rome and he is on trial for his very life and the Apostle Paul had been brought before King Agrippa and he had been accused of various things and increased infringement on the law at this time of history Rome were his beginning her decline as an empire in 1887 Edward Gibbon wrote the decline and fall of the Roman Empire and Rome was the striking parallel to America today a leader in world affairs but her leadership was threatened rich and prosperous with an economy that defied collapse her armies were respected by the nations of the world but Rome fell Boulton clever sophisticated shrewd robe fell to the barbarian hordes that had far less of material things than Rome had these pendants from the north were a dedicated disciplined hard atheistic people and the Romans used to laugh at their ignorance superstition and lack of military equipment and mr. Gibbons proved that Rome did not fall because of military superiority of the barbarians it was internal decadence within the Roman culture first he said the rapid increase of divorce our nation never fold until it starts to decay at the center and the heart of any nation is the home which is the core of society and this infringed on the seventh commandment which says thou shalt not commit adultery and we in America have gone on a sex binge that has no parallel in history and we are guilty as Rome was guilty our homes are breaking our divorce rates are high secondly mr. Gibbons said it was the high rate of taxes spending public money for free bread and circuses for the populace the average American has no conception of the disaster that lies ahead with our continued deficit spending thirdly there's the mad craze for pleasure said mr. Gibbon four times as much spent for pleasure in America as for religious and Welfare benevolence our annual tobacco bill exceeds the amount of money spent on education and rode on the decline demanded more artificial stimulation and more exciting and brutal sports just as we are doing in the United States today forcefully mr. Gibbins said the decline of Rome was caused by the building of gigantic armament now we have to have armies we have to have a defense program in the world in which we live but we shouldn't trust in it to say this I tell you that our armaments alone without faith in God will not save us no matter how powerful they become and fifthly mr. Gibbons said the decay of religion to the rank and file religion had faded into mere form it had lost its relevance to life it held no central legions to the people and today in America we have millions going to church but no deep commitment to Christ no deep commitment to God no all-out for Jesus Christ on the part of millions of church members we play it religious we serve God with our lips but our hearts are far from him here we find the Apostle Paul in the midst of a great Empire preaching this new gospel of Jesus Christ and in the midst of a declining Empire an empire that is soon to collapse poll is going from place to place preaching Jesus Christ and him crucified coal said I'm determined to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ in him crucified the Apostle Paul said there's only one hope for Rome there's only one hope for the world and that is Jesus Christ dying on a cross but the people of that day laughed they sneered they mocked they made fun and when you preach the gospel today people still say that it's impossible it cannot save the world but I tell you the gospel of Jesus Christ is our only hope at this hour and on this occasion the Apostle Paul is brought before King Agrippa and Paul was pleading his case before the king the King had come in and all the pomp and splendour all the people had gathered around the offices the Admirals of the Navy the generals of the army the officials of State were there and here is this a little man Paul this great intellect that it sold everything he had for Jesus Christ stands in front of the king and the King said Paul you may speak and when Paul had finished his sermon that day the King said oh oh most you persuade me to commit my life to Jesus Christ and Paul said I would bit not only bow but also all that hear me this day where most as I am all together you and I may revolt against the Word of God we may challenge the call to our conscience but sooner or later the question of faith will be demanded of us Paul said to Agrippa do you believe believe is sow and Agrippa said I almost believe I've almost entered the kingdom of God and so we find two men one the Apostle Paul who says I know in whom I have believed and here's King Agrippa saying I've almost believed I'm almost in the kingdom but not quite what was it that almost persuaded Agrippa that day here was Agrippa on the thin edge of capitulation it was only one step from one side to the other the scales of decision were almost even why was the grip almost persuaded what caused him to stop and think first because the gripper already believed in God there are thousands of you here today that you believe in God intellectually you say there's a God in your heart you know there's a God your conscience tells you there's a God but you're not quite in the kingdom of God you haven't really committed yourself to Christ intellectually you say yes but you haven't committed everything you have to Jesus Christ and you're not in the kingdom of God this is the tragedy of this crusade there are thousands of people all over Illinois and all over the Midwest that believe in God but that's not enough you've never come to the point in your life when you've repented of your sins and receive Christ you're almost persuaded to believe but not quite secondly Agrippa was almost persuaded because he just heard the gospel declared and that's the fishing reason for any man there hearing of the gospel immediately constitutes a moral obligation to the hearer when I go to a university campus students are always asking the question well what about the heathen where did Cain get his wife that's none of my business that's not your business that's God's business but let me tell you this your problem is far more serious you've heard the gospel of Jesus Christ proclaimed and preached and you haven't done anything about it and your responsibility is ten thousand times more than a man that lives in Russia that has never heard the gospel explain and God will hold you responsible at the judgment for more than a man living in the heart of China who never heard Paul stood that day and he said to King Agrippa King Agrippa Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins O king majesty in respect to you sir I say that you are a sinner whether you're a king of whether you're a Papa whether you're educated or uneducated you've sinned against God you need to repent of your sins and Jesus Christ died publicly and openly on a cross for you and unless you come to have an encounter with him you will be lost Oh King Agrippa I wish you would come to Christ oh the courage of Paul the fullness that the Holy Spirit gave Paul that day too upon his finger at the king and say come to God die stand here today as a servant of the Living God not to preach my message not to preach my thoughts I'm praying even while I speak to you that God will give me the words to say to you that will cause you not only to be almost in the kingdom of God but will it cause you this day to decide to cross over that thin line and say yes to Jesus Christ and let him change and transform your life and give you a new dimension of living yes he heard the gospel proclaimed and his responsibility was tremendous thirdly he was almost persuaded because he had the example of Paul's conversion he had a living example of a change life paul used to fight christ he used to persecute the Christians he put them in jail he murdered them he did all sorts of things and one day he was going along the road of Damascus and he struck down by a blinding light and he said Lord who is it and he said I'm Jesus whom you persecute and that day this brilliant intellectual man was converted on a dusty road to Damascus I tell you conversion can take place in a minute conversion can take place right here and now in your heart you don't have to wait till you get to church you don't have to wait and you get home it can take place right now in the quietness of your heart right where you sit you can say yes Lord Jesus I receive you I trust you your life will be changed your name will be written on the book of life your sins will be forgiven you can know that you're going to heaven Agrippa so the change in Paul's life her grip I believed in God he heard the gospel preached he saw the change in Paul's life and he was almost persuaded to commit himself to Christ but he didn't do why did not Agrippa come to Christ for the same reasons that many of you don't come to Christ first he might have thought that his way was good enough just like a lot of you the Bible says there's a way that seemeth right unto man but the end thereof are the ways of death I had a man that said to me said well I'm sincere and if I live a sincere life that's enough no it's not enough I told the folks the other night that I saw a man pick up a football once and run 65 yards are various and see a man but he ran the wrong way and lost the game you can be sincere and be wrong many of you say well I follow my conscience or you say I live up to the Sermon on the Mount or the golden rule is my religion but you don't live up to the golden rule the Sermon on the Mount you don't live up to that you failed it you've sinned and even if you lived up to it it wouldn't be enough Jesus turned to Nicodemus and said you must be born again yes he might have thought that his way was good enough but in God's sight it's not good enough the road to heaven is narrow the Bible says the road to hell is broad and Jesus said many there be that go there in Agrippa might also a feared public opinion he began to ask himself what would Caesar say what would his sister Bernice say what would his friend say and he couldn't pay the price he feared the cynical criticizing tongue of man more than he desired the approval of God and that's your trouble you're afraid of what people sitting next to you will think if you get up out of your seat and come and receive Christ today the fear of man is a snare to you you're afraid to get up out of your seat and declare yourself open there for Christ you're afraid of what people will say you're afraid to go back to your office tomorrow morning and tell them that you've become a Christian you're afraid to go back to your home and say to your wife honey I've been wrong I'm sorry for the things I've done to you I have received Christ and I'm going to live a different life and thirdly he might have had sin that he would not give up and that keeps many people from Christ the sin of pride maybe you don't want to give up that woman that you've been going to see that's not your wife maybe you don't want to give up that lust in your heart maybe you don't want to give up the cheating and the lying that's gaining you some extra money maybe you don't want to give up some of those things that you've been doing that are wrong Agrippa was convicted of the fact that he had sinned against God and he was holding on to his sins he didn't want to give them up or he might have postponed the decision he said I'm almost persuaded Paul but some of the time because that's what Felix the governor had said Felix the governor said in a more convenient time I'll call on you Paul but he never called the Bible says now is the day today is the day of salvation the Bible says come while you can you may not have another moment like this when will you ever see a crowd this great gathered to hear the gospel when will you ever have a moment like this to come to Christ as you do at this hour give your life to Christ while you can the Bible says he that hardly this heart being often reproved shall suddenly be cut off and that without remedy the Bible says my spirit will not always strive with a man you can't come to Christ anytime you want to you can't just get up out of your seat anytime and come you can only come when the Spirit of God draws you you can only come to Christ I know moment when God has prepared your heart and when the gospel has been proclaimed and you receive him as your Savior yes our gripper decide to postpone but Shakespeare said there's a tide in the affairs of men which taken at the flood leads on to fortune they're so tired in the affairs of man I don't believe many of you came here today by accident I believe every person that is here at this hour was sent here but God it was designed in heaven that you should be here at this very hour sitting on this hot day listening to the gospel and having an opportunity to receive Christ and enter the kingdom of heaven and you may never have another hour like this as long as you live this is your moment with God I'm going to ask you to come and receive him in a moment how could of Agrippa entered the kingdom of God first by repentance of sin either choice you make it'll cost you something if you remain almost persuaded it'll be very costly it'll mean hell and judgment but if you come totally to Christ it'll cost you your sin you're going to have to pay a price whatever your decision today every one of you that I hear have a decision to make before you leave here it'll be yes I know if it's yes it'll cost you your sins because you have to change your way of living if it's no it'll cost you peace of heart peace of mind forgiveness of sin heaven either way you have to pay a price which decision is yours yes or no oh I know that many of you at church members maybe most of you but you've never really come to Christ I was a member of a church for four years before I ever really came to Christ I'm asking you today to commit and surrender your life in your heart to him as you've never done before in your life not only did he have to repent of sin but Agrippa would have had to turn to God it is not so much how shall I find God but where God is to be found in a certain direction and Agrippa was told to turn in that direction God is in the opposite direction from which mankind is moving conversion isn't about faith it's going in the opposite direction the world today is eating and drinking and making merry the Bible says you will have to come out of the world the Bible says you'll have to turn and go the opposite direction and when you go home and go back to your office and go back to your work it's going to be difficult they'll be frictions and problem and difficulties of a thousand sorts but the Bible says Christ will be with you the Holy Spirit will live within and He will give you power and produce in your life the fruit of the Spirit which is love joy and peace you can have dominion over sin you can have a new power that you've never known you can look sin in the face and say sin you shall no longer conquer me by giving your life to Christ but you will have to repent of sin and turn to God and that can happen right here today what did it cost Agrippa to remain almost persuaded it cost him pardon of his sins it cost him peace of heart it cost the life of what it calls him the prospect of heaven did it pay Agrippa to remain almost no where is almost Agrippa today we hardly ever hear it where is all together polled the man that said I'm all together for Christ Paul's name is mentioned wherever Christians gather anywhere in the world and someday we shall see him in heaven Agrippa said almost now persuade us me to be a Christian and there are thousands of you here this afternoon that are almost in the kingdom of God almost persuaded just about ready to step over the line but not quite I'm going to ask you to step over the line this past week our Minister this city came to see me he said Mr Graham he said I am a I believe I'm a Christian I'm a graduate of one of the finest theological schools in the world I'm the pastor of a great Church in Chicago Betty said I've been sitting here night after night and he said the Holy Spirit has made me so miserable because he said I really am not sure that I've had an encounter with Christ I've known for years that I was preaching beyond my experience and he said I want you to know I want to know if you were bow and pray with me and let me call this the moment of my conversion I want a date I want a moment when I can say this was the moment I crossed over the line we got on our knees and he got up from his knees a smile on his face tears running down his cheeks he said next Sunday morning the congregation will have a new minister jesus said to Nicodemus a professor theology you must be born again today in a church in this town an invitation was given this morning down the aisle warped a gangster in this city he fell in the front and he said God have mercy upon me when he left here today to come out to the meeting he had a smile on his face and he said for the first time in years I have peace in my heart I believe God is forgiving my sin the other night down the aisle at McCormick Place there came a young fellow that's a head of a gang in this city and he handed to one of our men his pistol his knife and his racer and he said I'm changing my life I give my life to Christ from this hour on I want to trust him the other day one of the leading socialites of the North Shore in the Chicago area got up out of his seat at McCormick Place and came forward that night he went home he said to his wife honey you've got a new hearse I wonder if you'll pray with me she nearly fainted she thought he was drunk they got out the Bible he read the Bible and then he got on his knees he didn't know how to pray but he prayed and she said we have a new home the other night at McCormick Place down the aisle came a husband on the other side came a woman they had been divorced two years ago neither of them knew that the other one was there they met in the front we've seen that happen in several campaigns they met in the front they received Christ together and they're getting remarried that's what Christ can do I've seen young people who are valedictorians of their high school classes I've seen college students come here by the hundreds to receive Jesus Christ as their Savior and have their lives transformed I'm asking you today to surrender your heart and your life to Jesus Christ and say today I want my life change I want my sins forgiven but some of you will remain almost like agrippa and you'll never come in fact you're closer to the kingdom of God today then you'll ever be in your whole life you'll never have an hour like this again in your entire life this is it and if you don't come today you may never come I'm asking you right now to come because the Bible says that in the day of judgment God did not spare the Angels that sinned and God loved the Angels he made the angels but he didn't spare them and God did not spare Israel when Israel sinned and God did not even spare the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah when they sinned God did not spare the ancient world and when Christ was on the cross God could have rescued him but he didn't do it he was dying in your place in my place shedding his blood for us and the Bible says God spared not his own son and at the day of judgment if you reject Christ this day I declare unto you unless you come to a point of repentance and faith he will not spare you he loves you he offers you forgiveness he offers you grace but if you reject it if you spurn it there is no other way Jesus Christ was raised from the dead he is a living Savior I offer you a living Christ who wants to walk into your life and take control it's like a an airliner that is flying up in the skies we've seen several fly over this afternoon the pilot is out of control and a captain who knows the plane comes and takes over he wants to be the pilot of your boat he wants to take you through the shows he wants to take you through the storms of life and guide indirect you and you stay well I'm almost ready but not quite our gripper was almost whole said I'm all together I want to ask you today to be all together all out 100% for Christ and here's what I'm going to ask you to do I'm going to ask that not a person leave please not at this very important moment and I'm going to ask hundreds of you to get up out of your seat right now just get up out of your seat and I want you to go forward down the steps and stand on the track in front of where you are now seated don't come here but just on the track in front of where you're seated you won't be far from your friends or your relatives or whoever you're with I want you to get up and these people that are down here in front you get up and come right here in front of the platform and say today I want to declare myself for Christ I want to open acknowledging I want him to forgive my sins I want a new life I want to receive him as my savior I want you to get up all over the place for the hundred men women young people now I'm going to ask you to get up right now and come and stand you say why is this so important Jesus could have said to the man with the withered arm be healed but he didn't do it he said stretch it forth he wanted the man to do something as evidence of his faith I'm going to ask you to do something stretch forth your life right now to Christ and receive him I know it's hot but I'm going to ask you to come right now if you're not willing to confess him publicly he will not confess you before his father which is in heaven now I'm going to ask the audience to bow their head just get up out of your seat and come right down on the track right now I know it'll take a couple moments to do it but don't you let anything keep you from Christ don't you leave here almost but not quite you come right down on the track people are already coming from everywhere now you come the choir will sing softly nobody leaving please because you'll fill the aisles if you start leaving and people cannot come and you should not be a hindrance to people who want to cover Christians I want you to pray you can bring people with you bring somebody to Christ today what a wave to help win someone husband and wife can join hand and come together whole families can come right now you come as thousands bow their head all over the place and pray and the choir sings softly you may be a member the church you may not be a member of any church but you need to make sure you want Christ in your heart you come right now [Music] [Music] just come and stand right in front of where you are [Music] mr. Pyatt informs me that they had prepared to have all of you come here in front of the platform and if you would like to come and stand here in front of the platform with these many that are coming you get up and come and join them here at the platform there'll be plenty of time for you to go back and join your friends but you come either in front where you are in front of the steps there or down here one of the two but come and counselors you can go back if you like to all of these places around so that we have counselors all the way around but you come from the stands and everywhere hundreds of people are coming this is your moment in your hour with God don't you miss it this is a historic Island Chicago and you come it's been about three hours since the benediction was pronounced and I've come back here to Soldier Field to talk to you when the appeal was given about 2,000 people came forward to receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior now the stadium is empty the breeze is blowing I think this afternoon was the hottest that I have ever preached in the sense of temperature because the temperature in the stadium was just about a hundred and I don't think I ever came and in Europe passing out during a sermon I remember I sort of almost held onto the pulpit one time and found myself quoting a verse of scripture I don't know whether you could sense that when you were watching on your screen but that didn't do away with the burden upon our hearts for the people here in Chicago and now we come to the end of this great crusade we've come to the end of these five telecast across America these telecasts have been carried on over a hundred and sixty stations more than we have ever carried before we took this as a gigantic step of faith we are depending on your support and your prayers I hope you write to us and let us know that you're standing with us but more important is your own personal relationship to Jesus Christ this afternoon I talked on agrippa almost being persuaded to follow Christ some of you during this week have almost been persuaded to give your life to Jesus Christ but you haven't done it you're sitting down the quietness of your home you may be in a bar you may be in some unique place that I don't even know about watching right now and God has spoken to you as you've seen the great crowd and as you heard the sermon and heard the singing the Spirit of God spoke to your heart the Bible teaches that we have two sets of ears you have physical is but you also have ears in your soul and while I was speaking here this afternoon God was speaking to your soul and as this stadium is empty now your own heart is empty and yet Christ is willing to come in and fill it to bring you a pig a joy and a satisfaction that you've never known before but more than that to adopt you into his family you become a child of God the Bible teaches that history is going to a definite objective and that objective is the reign of Jesus Christ his kingdom is ultimately going to triumph as I talked about the other night and you can be a part of it and the decision the stepping over the line can be right now as you give your heart in your life to Jesus Christ but just as Agrippa neglected or refused to repent and turn to God so many of you are in danger of doing the same but I'm going to ask you right now to do it you don't have to be here in this big stadium there's nothing about the mechanics of coming forward that saves anybody so coming forward is an open acknowledgement and a testimony of an inward experience that you have with Christ but this inward experience with Christ this encounter is the most important thing and that could happen to you right now wherever you are whatever your condition whatever your circumstances oh but you say Billy I'm really too great a sinner I I've just been too bad I've done too many things I'm too big a hypocrite no you're not too much a sinner there's no sin too bad but what Christ can forgive when he died on that cross he was dying for you he took your place your sins were put on him not just the sins of this big crowd that we had today at Soldier Field but your sin your own sins were placed on him and now if by faith you will receive him into your heart he will forgive them sins and then you can know something of the power of his own resurrection the same power that raised up Jesus Christ from the dead is available to you right now to help you live a new life if you will put your confidence and your faith in him and as you saw these people come forward afternoon so in your heart you can come forward right now you don't have to be in a church or a stadium just now you can make you a commitment to Christ I remember when I came forward to receive Christ I remember that the newspaper the next day said that not very much it happened perhaps an emotional experience but did you know from that one group of people that came forward that night I know 11 men in the ministry right now we never know what happens to one person coming to Jesus Christ your life can be transformed and changed perhaps you won't sense this change so much until the next year or two years but as you read your Bible and pray and witness for Christ and get into the church you will be able to sense a tremendous transformation and if you make you a decision now go talk to your minister goodbye and may the Lord bless you you

Channel: Billy Graham Evangelistic Association

Views: 230,915

Rating: 4.9035282 out of 5

Keywords: Billy Graham, Jesus Christ

Id: Tq2FlxfHHIk

Length: 38min 10sec (2290 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 08 2019

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