From our archives... The Billy Graham Classics. [applause] Tonight, I want you
to turn with me to the 22nd chapter of
the book of Luke. The 23rd chapter,
pardon me. The 23rd chapter of
the book of Luke, beginning at verse 39. "And one of the malefactors,
which were hanged, "railed on him saying, "If thou be the Christ,
save thyself and us. "But the other answering
rebuked him, saying, "Dost thou not fear God, "seeing thou art in
the same condemnation? "And we indeed justly; "for we receive the due reward
of our deeds: "but this man hath
done nothing amiss. "And he said unto Jesus,
"Lord, remember me "when thou comest
into Thy kingdom. "And Jesus said unto him,
"Verily I say unto thee, "Today shalt thou be with me
in paradise." Here is the story of a man
that was converted at the very last moment. In this passage of Scripture
that I've just read, we find a description of
the cross of Jesus Christ. You know, almost every day I meet people who ask me
the question, "Is there any hope for me?" Alcoholics, drug addicts, prostitutes. Well, I want to tell you the story I read
out of the Bible of a man that deserved death,
and judgement, and hell, and in that very last moment,
repented of his sins, and he was saved. It's the only story of
a deathbed repentance in the whole Bible. Now, that's very interesting
to me. The only one
in the whole Bible. This indicates that
it's possible to be saved at the last moment,
but it's not probable. You better come to Christ
while you can, because you may never have
many opportunities. This man had one opportunity, and he took advantage of
that one moment. Now here is the picture of
the cross of Christ. I don't think anyone can read the story of the crucifixion
of Jesus Christ and know anything
about crucifixion that it doesn't move
your heart, because crucifixion was
the most cruel and the most terrible
form of execution. The Romans practiced
capital punishment. Most of the world does practice
capital punishment. The Romans practiced it
and they would crucify people. And crucifixion was
the most terrible, most agonizing form of death
known to man. Sometimes a victim would hang on
the cross for five and six days, in the hot sun,
gradually dying, in the most terrible suffering,
the most terrible agony. When Jesus was a little boy
in Nazareth, the Romans crucified
3,000 people in one day, and Jesus must have seen it,
because they'd had a rebellion, and the Romans had crucified
them. And so crucifixion was
the Roman method of execution, not the Jewish method, the Roman method of execution. And it was the Romans that
put the nails in the hands of Jesus Christ. And we get the picture. They take Jesus out of
the dungeon, out of the jail. He's already been condemned
to death. They couldn't find any charges
that would stick. False witnesses had been brought
and testified against Him. And now we find Jesus being
dragged out of the jail, His clothes taken off of Him, a long leather whip
with steel pellets on the end is wrapped around his body time
after time after time until his back is bleeding. Then laughingly and jeeringly they put a crown of thorns on
his brow and his head bleeds. They jerk at his beard
until his face is bleeding. His visage is
so marred that they cannot hardly
recognize him. and two thieves,
two robbers, two people that deserved to die
are brought out with him. and on their backs are placed
their own crosses, and they start that long march
toward a hill called Calvary. And on the way, Jesus tired,
weakened from the loss of blood, and the beating,
falls and stumbles. Finally, He lies on the ground
and they compelled an African, a black man, to come,
and pick up the cross, and carry it for Him. And don't ever forget,
it was a black man that helped Jesus on the way to the cross,
to carry His own cross. Christ belongs to
the black man, as much as he does
to the white, or to the red. He belongs to
all the world. And He says to the black,
and to the white, and to the red,
and to the yellow, "I love you." And every step that He took
on the way to the cross, and every drop of blood
that fell, God was saying, "I love you, I love you,
I love you." And the Bible says
that angels looked on in wonderment and amazement. They couldn't believe it. That the mighty God
of the universe, who with the snap of his finger, could wipe a whole planet
out of existence, would allow them to do that
to His son. They go to the cross,
to Calvary, and they put the nails
in His hands and the spike
in His feet, and they hang Him
between heaven and earth, and there He's hanging. The soldiers, they're even
making fun of Him. And a crowd is gathered
and they're laughing. They're sneering, "You've saved others,
why don't you save yourself?" And the two thieves that
are being crucified with Him are also mocking and jeering. Now that is why,
ladies and gentlemen, that you cannot be saved
apart from the cross. The greatest crisis
in the history of the world was the crisis of the cross. As a matter of fact, all other crises are nothing
compared to the one eternal crisis
that took place on Calvary 2,000 years ago. You see, on one side of
that cross was God, on the other side was
the devil, and the human race chose
to take sides with the devil. That made salvation by
your works, by your goodness, by your pride, by your money,
that made it impossible. If anyone is
to ever be saved, they must come by
the way of the cross. God has chosen to save us. That's the reason
the Bible says, "For by grace are ye saved
through faith; "and that not of yourselves:
it is the gift of God, "not of works,
lest any man boast." And it takes away all our pride
when we look at the cross, because, you see, Paul said the proclamation
of the cross is foolishness. It's ridiculous to
those that are perishing. It's a rebuke to
your own wisdom. It's a rebuke to
your intellect. It's a rebuke to everything you
try to offer God to please God. You have to humble yourself,
and bow yourself, and repent of your sins and,
by faith say, "Lord, in the cross of Christ
I glory. "I cling only to the cross." These two thieves were there, and they were laughing
and jeering, but one of them suddenly stops. A strange look comes
on his face. He looks at Jesus. He sees Him dying as Lord of Lords,
and King of Kings. And he sees something about
the way He's dying. The fact that
He's not answering back. and the fact that He's prayed, "Forgive them,
they know not what they do." Think of a moment like that
praying such a prayer. And this thief hears all of that
and there's something about his previous life that comes
back to his thoughts. And he rebukes the other thief,
and he says, Don't you fear God? This man hasn't done anything. He doesn't deserve to die,
but you and I deserve to die. We deserve to be executed
for our crimes. And then he believed in
a future life, because, you see, he turned to
Jesus and he said, "Lord, remember me when
Thou comest into Thy kingdom." Remember me when Thou comest
into Thy kingdom. But somewhere the thief had
gotten on the wrong track. He might have had
a godly mother. He might have had
a father who believed in righteousness and in integrity
and in God. But somewhere, maybe when he was
15, 16, 17, 18, 19, when he began to make
his own choices, he chose the wrong direction, and it ended up where
they all end up. "Be sure your sin will
find you out," says the Bible. You can't continue sinning
and get away with it. You can't continue hardening
your heart and get away with it. It will catch up
sometime, somewhere. If it doesn't catch up
in this life, it will be-- You'll be caught at
the Judgement. You'll never escape. Now, it had caught up with
this man. All of his sins that
had been accumulating over all of this time, and he himself admits that
he deserves to be executed. And then, in that moment,
he repents of his sin, because the Spirit of God is
there convicting him. He turns to Jesus and says,
"Lord, remember me." He acknowledged his guilt. He didn't try to hold it back. He didn't try to cover up. He just acknowledged that
he was wrong. Look at his faith. If he had had this kind of faith
at the tomb of Lazarus where he saw Jesus raise
somebody from the dead, or when Jesus walked
on the water, or maybe at the resurrection
and stood at the open tomb, if he had said,
"Lord, remember me when you come into
your kingdom." But to see Jesus on the cross,
dying and covered with blood, His hair matted with blood, and to see him dying
in that condition, to have faith that this one in
the center cross was coming into a kingdom and asking him
to remember him, that took one of the greatest
acts of faith in all the Bible. He believed
at that moment. At that terrible and awful
moment, he believed that Jesus Christ was headed
toward a kingdom, and he wanted to be
in that kingdom. He wanted to be saved. He wanted his sins forgiven. Look at his prayer. It was short,
just a single sentence. It was humble. He didn't ask for much. He just said,
"Remember me." He didn't say, "Lord, I want
a big place in your kingdom. "Lord, how about
taking me with you?" He said,
"Just remember me, Lord. "Just remember my name. "Remember that I'm here,
that I believe. "Remember me, Lord." And notice
how earnest it was. "Lord, remember me." My Lord, that word means. My very Lord. "Remember me when
Thou comest into Thy kingdom." Do you know Jesus Christ
personally? Have you ever said,
"Lord, remember me. "Lord, forgive me. "Lord, I am such a sinner." You know Clifford Irving said
that he knew Howard Hughes. He knew enough about him
to write a book that fooled one of the greatest publishing
firms in the United States. But he really didn't know him. There's some of you that
know a lot about Jesus. There are many of you
that know the Bible backwards and forwards. There are many of you
that have a lot of religion, but do you really know
Jesus Christ yourself personally? Do you know Him? If you don't,
you can know Him tonight, and you can say,
like the thief on the cross, "Lord, remember me." And what was Christ's answer? What an answer He gave. The Bible says He'd been silent
for quite a long time, but now He heard
the cry of the thief. And He said,
"Today, thou shalt be with Me "in paradise." Now paradise is only used
a few times in the Bible. We read about paradise
where Adam and Eve were. We read about paradise
at the end of the Bible in Revelation 22. But here it's used again. "Today, thou shalt be with Me
in paradise." Now think of what a day that was
for that thief. At nine o'clock in the morning
he was being executed for murder and for robbery. At 12 o'clock
he was a child of God, and by six o'clock
he was already in heaven. What a day. The day that not only changed
the world, it changed the universe, but certainly, the day that
changed that man. "Today, thou shalt be with Me
in paradise. Notice, Jesus said today. Today is a big word
in the Bible. Tomorrow is the devil's word. Today is God's word. God says, "Today,
if you'll hear my voice." Now is the accepted time. Right now. Today. At this minute. You could make your commitment,
and your decision, and your sins could be forgiven. Because, you see, in that moment,
while Christ was dying, something else
was happening. The greatest thing
that ever happened in the history
of the world. And Jesus Christ,
being identified with sinners, and numbered with
the transgressors, and being made sin,
became the wickedest man, in a sense,
that ever lived. Because, you see,
He took all of your sins, all of your sins, all the sins rolled into one. It doesn't say that God just
laid them on Him. He became sin. The suffering of Jesus Christ
was not physical. Oh, he suffered physically. That's a terrible death to die. But his real suffering was
spiritual. Can you imagine
the holy, righteous Son of God that had never had
an evil thought, that had never committed a sin,
suddenly becoming sin itself, becoming guilty of murder,
becoming guilty of immorality, becoming guilty of everything,
becoming guilty of your sins? He became sin for us. Do you know what that means? To become sin. No wonder God says
it's only by the cross. The angels wanted to
come and rescue Him. And He said, "No, I'm going to
stay here, because I love them. And He stayed there because of
the joy that was set before Him. How could there be any joy
at such a moment? He looked ahead by faith
and saw that you would be in this stadium in Birmingham, and He would see you come
to Himself, and He could change your life
and forgive your sins. That was the joy that was set
before Him. The joy that out of
all the peoples in the world there would be gathered
a people unto His name and that they would be
in paradise with Him forever. And what a glorious thing it was that the first person
to enter paradise-- I imagine
the angels were looking. Who's He going to
bring with Him? Who will be the first human
being to come into paradise with the Lord Jesus? I bet it will be Abraham. Probably be Daniel. I wonder if it will be Elijah. Will it be Moses? You know who it was? The thief on the cross. "Today, thou shalt be with Me
in paradise." And that day
he entered paradise. with the King of kings
and Lord of lords, and what a welcome
they must have gotten as they went down through
the streets of that city paved with gold. And all the universe bowing
before Him. The stars stopping
in their courses. The music that rang from planet
to planet and star to star when Jesus entered paradise and at His side was
a thief that deserved hell. Well, I want to tell you If Jesus Christ would answer
the prayer of that thief at that moment, He'll answer your prayer
tonight. You don't have to pray
a long prayer. One sentence. You don't have to go home and rearrange everything
and get good, and try to rearrange
your business, or try to rearrange
your studies, or try to rearrange
your married life. You come just like you are. You don't wait and go home
and get some better clothes on so you can be more presentable. Come as you are. This thief on the cross
was hanging there naked, and bleeding,
and deserving death. And you know it is
an interesting thing, because, you see, he didn't have time
to join a church. He didn't have time
to run and get baptized. We don't know whether
he was sprinkled or poured on, or how he was baptized. He wasn't baptized. You see, he was saved by
sheer grace. And that word grace is
a marvelous word in the Bible. It means unmerited favor. Something I don't deserve. Something that
God just hands me, He gives it to me, I can't buy it;
I can't work for it. He gives it. And He offers it to you tonight. God is saying to all of you,
"I love you; I will forgive you, "It won't cost you anything,
you don't have to work for it. "It's yours, it's free,
but you must leave your pride "and you must leave your sins
behind." And the thing that
keeps most people from coming to Jesus Christ is
just one thing. Pride. Because, you see, the cross demands that
you give up your pride. You have to come and say, "Lord,
I don't have anything to bring." You may be a rich man. You may be a powerful man. You may be a great student. You may be a beautiful girl. "But Lord,
when it comes to salvation, "I've got nothing to offer
except my sins, "but I come just as I am,
O Lamb of God, I come." That's all it takes. A sincere prayer. Lord have mercy upon me,
a sinner. And, if He heard the prayer
of that thief, He'll hear your prayer
tonight. Salvation is all of grace. You say, "Well, Billy,
do you mean that a person can find Christ
that quick and be transformed from a sinner to a saint
that quick? Yes. You go all the way through
the New Testament. The woman of Samaria,
just like that. At noon, she was
a sinner talking to Jesus, filled with immorality. Before evening came, she was an evangelist
winning other people to Christ. The three thousand people
at Pentecost were converted at one moment. The Apostle Paul who was
on the road to Damascus was converted that day
when he met Jesus on road. The jailer in Philippi was
converted to Christ that quick, when he thought the prisoners
were going to escape. The Ethiopian nobleman converted
to Christ that quick. The thief on the cross converted
to Christ that quick, transformed and changed. Now it doesn't mean
you become immediately perfect. You're still the same. You're going back to
the same family, the same address,
the same crowd; but it means that
your heart is changed. Your inside has been changed. You're starting in
a new direction in your life. It's called in the Bible
conversion. And you start by repentance,
and repentance means that you acknowledge that
you've sinned. You say, "Lord, I'm a sinner.
I've broken your law. "I know I am "and I'm willing to change
my whole direction of life. "I want you to come in as "my Lord and my Master
and my Savior." Jesus offers salvation free,
and it's offered to you tonight. To every one of you. That's my job as a preacher. I'm only a messenger. I'm a messanger from God tonight
to you, saying, "God forgives you,
He loves you. "It can happen right now
to you, "if you will put your faith and
your confidence in Him." And, as I said a moment ago, It's the only story in the Bible
of a deathbed conversion, so don't put it off. Only one man
in the whole Bible, and it was given, I think,
that we might never despair, but we should never presume. Come to Christ now. This is the hour;
this is the moment. You didn't come to this stadium
by accident. You came because,
in God's providence, He brought you. He allowed you to come. He's prepared your heart, and I am bringing this message
tonight for you. Don't you miss it. Don't you put it off. I'm going to ask hundreds of you
to get up out of your seats, as we've seen
over a thousand people each night come to Christ since
we've been here in Birmingham. I'm going to ask you to get up
out of your seat and come and join them. Come and stand right here
in the front, and say, by coming,
"I receive Christ. "I want forgiveness. "I want a new life. "I want to be changed. "I want a new purpose
and a new meaning in my life." 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. Why do I ask you to come? Every person Jesus called
in the New Testament He called publicly. There's something about
coming forward publicly and standing here
that settles it in your life. I'm going to ask you to get up
and come right now. Quickly, hundreds of you. You may be in the choir. If you come from
the top balcony, it will take a moment or two,
but come right now and stand here quietly
and reverently with many people. As hundreds are responding to
Mr. Graham's invitation to make a public commitment
to Jesus Christ, you can make
that same commitment right where you are. Just pick up the phone
and call the number you see on your screen. Special friends are waiting to talk with you
and pray with you about this most important
decision. ♪ Was shed for me. ♪ ♪ And that Thou bidst me
come to Thee, ♪ ♪ O Lamb of God, I come ♪ You're watching
the Billy Graham Classics. Please call the phone number
on the screen right now for spiritual help and guidance. As you can see here
in Birmingham, Alabama, hundreds of people are coming
to make this great commitment to Jesus Christ. All kinds of people, all stratas of society
are coming and saying, "Lord, remember me. "I need you in my life. "I want you to forgive my sin
and change my life." He'll come into your life, where
you are watching by television, if you'll let Him. God help you to make
that commitment, and to go to church next Sunday. If you just prayed that prayer
with my father, or if you have any questions about a relationship with
Jesus Christ. Why don't you just call that
number that is on the screen. There will be someone there
to talk with you, pray with you, and answer those questions. And remember,
God loves you! If you would like to commit
your life to Jesus Christ, please call us right now,
toll-free at 1-877-772-4559. That's 1-877-772-4559. Or you can write to us at: Billy Graham 1 Billy Graham Parkway, Department C Charlotte, NC 28201 Or you can contact us on the web
24/7 at PeaceWithGod.tv. Well get the same helps to you
that we give to everyone who responds at the invitation. On behalf of Franklin Graham and the Billy Graham
Evangelistic Association, thank you for watching, and thank you for your prayers. We are to wait for the coming
of Christ with patience, (echo) patience,
patience, patience. We are to watch
with anticipation. The Scripture says, Christ is coming when
you’re least expecting Him. Coming as a thief. He said, be prepared.
Get ready. Prepare to meet thy God. Are you prepared?
