From our archives... The Billy Graham Classics. [applause] Pilot asks the question,
"What is truth?" And truth, not facts are what
we're talking about tonight, and there's a difference. Facts are not necessarily
the truth. They are the best we know
at the time, but today's newspapers,
I mean, this day's newspapers
reported that public confidence in
the leadership of our major institutions,
such as the media, education, banking,
government, the military, medicine, business,
has sunk to the lowest in at least a decade. And every institution today is
under attack in our country: the home, the church,
the government. And many people asking,
"What is the truth?" They're asking what is
the truth about the airliner that was downed
off the coast of Japan. And inside the pages of
the Bible are stories of lust and hate and war and crime
as bad as anything that we read in history. It's called the Holy Bible. It's holy because
it tells the truth. It tells the truth about God,
about man, about the devil. But Satan has caused
a credibility gap to be established. Our magazines are filled with
stories of Satan worship. Satan has his disciples. Demons, sorcery, witchcraft,
and wizards are front page news today. And the devil and his legions
seem to be gathering steam for the last great conquest
of this earth. Now Jesus wasn't afraid
to call him what he was. Jesus called him a liar
and the father of lies. He said, because there is
no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie,
he speaketh of his own for he's a liar
and the father of it. In the garden of Eden,
God had said, "For in the day that thou eatest
thereof thou shall surely die." If you eat of
that particular tree, all the fruit in the garden
is yours, except that one tree. God was testing man. The devil came along. He was in the garden. How did the devil get here? Read the 14th chapter of Isaiah, the 28th chapter of Ezekiel and you'll get some hints and
ideas as to how Satan came to this planet. He was probably the finest
and the most gorgeous of all the created beings
of God. And one day his heart was lifted
with pride and he decided he wanted to be
greater than God. So, he led a rebellion
against God. Now we don't know
how that happened. That's a mystery
beyond our comprehension. There's no use really
spending any time on it because we just don't know. But we do know
what he said to Eve. He said,
"Yea, hath God said?" He was putting doubt in her mind
about the word of God. Just as the devil is still
putting doubts concerning the inspiration of
Scriptures. Are the Scriptures
authoritative? Are they infallible? "Yea, had God said?" And then,
"Ye shall not die." That was the next thing
she said. Universalism. Everybody will be saved
eventually. And then,
"You will be as God." That's what the secularist
and the humanist are saying. We're our own god. Now the first time that
man had to make a choice between God's truth
and the devil's lie, he chose the devil's lie. And when Adam and Eve rejected
God's truth and accepted the devil's lie, that was the moment that all the troubles of
the whole world began. Our sinful nation nature often
sides with the devil's lie instead of God's truth, because you see,
we are now sinners. We're crippled, crippled for life
and we side with the lie. We'd rather believe
the devil's lie than God's truth. And a child can lie
before it can talk. It can steal
before it can walk. Ask your child
before he can talk or walk, "Did you take
your sister's doll?" And he, being unable to talk,
shakes his head no. He lied
before he could talk; and he stole
before he could walk. Now where did he learn to lie? The disease is inherited
like other inherited diseases. You see, we inherited
from our parents and they inherited it
from their parents on back to Adam and Eve. It's a disease that is all
through the whole human race. No group of people in the world
are exempted from the disease of sin. And it's the disease of sin that
is at the heart of the troubles of the world at this moment. Sin is taking sides
with the lie. Now the Bible,
speaking of the antichrist says in II Thessalonians 2, this lawless man is produced by
the spirit of evil and armed with
all the false wonders and signs and falsehood
can devise. To those involved
in this dying world, he will come with evils
undiluted power to deceive, for they have refused
the love of truth, which could have saved them. God sends upon them, therefore,
the full force of evils delusion so that they put their faith in
an utter fraud and meet the inevitable judgment of all who have refused
to believe the truth and who have made evil
their play fellow. And God also says
in Romans 1, these men deliberately forfeited
the truth of God and accepted a lie. God, therefore handed them over
to disgraceful passions. They see truth as a lie
and the lie is the truth and they make money, power,
sex experience, and other things, their gold,
and their gods. And they accept
the lies of the devil and many young people
that are here tonight are accepting now
the whispers of Satan in your ear. Come down this path,
take this drug, sleep with this girl,
do this, do that and you will find pleasure
and happiness. That's the way
you ought to live. And then there's
religious hypocrisy that brings
no lasting peace. Millions of young people
go to church without having a personal relationship
with Christ. I remember I used to be
taken to church by my parents
and I hated church. They made me go to church
and I had to sit there. And my cousins and I sometimes
could slip away and crawl under the seats, or we could make little paper
airplanes and fling them. And my father would always
see it. And he would say,
I'll see you when we get home. And he never forgot,
never forgot. And I got many a whipping
because of what I did in church. And I couldn't wait to grow up
and go away from home, so I wouldn't have to
go to church. But then when I was
about 16 or 17, I received Christ as my Savior. And I went back to church
and the next Sunday I told my parents,
I said, "You know, "Dr. Lindsay is certainly is
preaching a wonderful sermon. "He's learned something from
this evangelistic campaign "in our city." And they said,
"No, he's preaching "the same type of sermons, "but you're just listening
with different ears." And I was and I began to make notes on
the sermons I was hearing. Come to Christ. It's so easy to be
in the church. Why they even me the president
of the young people's class and they elected me
the treasurer even. And I was looked upon
as a good person and they didn't know that I was
rejecting Christ all the time and rejecting the teachings
of the church and couldn't wait to get away. I was a hypocrite. Now there's another delusion
that's going around among young people
and that is that peace is
just around the corner. It is not. There will not be any peace
in the world until the Prince of Peace is taken
into account and the Prince of Peace comes; but we find deception, delusion,
and the practicing of the lie on every hand. The credibility gap is seen
everywhere. What is the answer? What can young people do? Turn to Christ. Turn to the truth. He said,
"My truth will set you free "from the bondage
and shackles of sin." And you that are watching
by television, pick up the phone
and call that number that's on the screen
right now. There are counselors
standing by. There'll be happy
to talk to you. And if first you call
and it's busy, call again. Call several times. They'll be there
all evening to help you
in your Christian life or to find Christ
right now. Now, many of you with
problems in the home or problems with drugs
or alcohol or whatever, call and talk to
that counselor now. Jesus said,
"You shall know the truth "and the truth shall
make you free." He is the truth. He said,
"I am the truth." I'm the embodiment of
all truth. It's in Me. You come to Jesus Christ
and He's the truth. He's not the lie. And He tells the truth. Jesus did not say you shall know
a truth or any truth, but the truth. There are usually truths in
every religion and every philosophy. But He's the embodiment of
all truth. The scripture says about
Jesus Christ, that He's the image of
the invisible God. The firstborn of
every creature. For by Him were
all things created that are in heaven
and that are in earth, visible and invisible. Whether they be thrones
or dominions or principalities
or powers. All things were created by Him
and for Him. And He is before all things. And by Him all things consist, that in all things he might have
the preeminence for it pleased the Father that in Him should
all fullness dwell. That is the truth
I'm asking you to receive and believe tonight
instead of the devil's lives. Jesus said, "If you believe not
that I am He, "you shall die in your sins." If you don't believe that and don't accept that
and know Christ, you're going to die
in your sins, and you'll be lost. Jesus Christ claimed to be
ultimate truth. Are you willing to face
the truth? Jesus Christ told the truth
about everything. He told the truth
about sin. He said, "For within
out of the heart of men "proceed evil thoughts
and the adulteries "and all the other sins
that we commit". It's out of the heart. War comes
from the human heart. Family tensions and problems
come from the human heart. Rebellion comes from
the human heart. We are that way
by nature. He told the truth
about love. He said,
"God so loved the world "that he gave
his only begotten Son, "that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, "but have everlasting life." God loves you. You say, "Billy, how do you,
how could God love me? "You don't know what I've done. "You don't know what
a big hypocrite I've been." I don't have to know. I just know that
whatever you've done, whatever you are now,
God loves you. And He loves you
with a love that you don't even know
anything about because there is no human love
comparable to divine love. God's love sent His son
to the cross to die and shed His blood
for you. And He would have died
had you been the only person in the whole world. He loves you. Don't ever forget He loves,
loves, loves, loves you. And He sees you sitting there. And when He was on the cross
because He was God, He had the capacity to look down
these 20 centuries and see you and say, "For you, Jim,
I'm hanging on this cross and there's being put on Me
right now your sins. You've told lies, Jim or Mary or
Suzy or whatever your name is. You've committed
immorality. You've stolen. You've been
a big hypocrite. You've listened
to the devil. You've done
all those things. Well, let me tell you,
Jim, Mary Suzy, your sins right now
are being put on me. I'm dying for you. I'm taking your judgment and your hell on me now. And I'm going to stay
on this cross. I could come down
and you could go to hell, but I love you too much. I'm going to stay here
and die for you. And that's exactly what
our Lord Jesus Christ did. And God raised Him
from the dead and He's alive. And so,
I do not preach to you a dead Christ
hanging on a cross. I preached you are risen Christ
who is alive tonight and who is coming back. Yes, God so loved. And then he told the truth
about judgment. Jesus warned people to flee
the wrath of God. Yes, God is angry
with the wicked every day. God has anger. And that anger is going
to explode into the judgment. Jesus said every idle word
that men speak; they shall give account
in the day of judgment. Every idle word,
all your thoughts, all your words, everything you've ever done
will be at the judgment. And you will be condemned
by your own words. He said, except you repent,
you shall perish. Now that's truth, Unless you repent. Unless you Mary, Bill, Suzy,
unless you repent, you're going to perish. What is repentance? Have you repented? Are you sure? I was a good boy in church. I'd never repented. I might've said something
to the elders when they met with me
to see if I was okay to join the church at 12, I didn't know what they were
even talking to me. I'd memorized the catechism. I couldn't understand it. It was just some memory things
for me. I hadn't really repented because
repentance means that I change. I change my mind about God, about myself,
about my fellow man. I change my way of living. But you know, I don't have
any strength to change. I can't really change. I can't really become
a Christian. Why? Because I'm dead
in trespasses and in sins. God has to help me change. He has to help me repent. And I say, "Oh God,
help me to repent." And then the second thing, not only do you have to repent, but by faith, you must receive
Christ into your heart as Savior and Lord. And Jesus told the truth
about conversion. He said, he indicated
you cannot be born into the Christian faith. You have to be born
from above, born again. And the process is called
conversion, which includes faith. And Jesus said,
except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter
the kingdom of heaven. In other words, he's not telling people
to become like adults. He's telling us to become
like little children and have child-like faith. Some people try to enter
the kingdom of God headfirst. They want to understand it, but you can never
understand it all. There are many things
in the Bible I don't understand. You come by simple faith, like a little child trusts
its mother and its father. And you put
your total confidence in Jesus Christ by faith. Have you done that? Repent, receive by faith,
and then obey Him. Live the life, follow Him,
serve Him, whatever the cost. And it's costly. Let's face it, in the world
in which we live, if you hold on
to Christian values and you live up to moral
standards laid down by Christ, it's going to cost you. It'll cost you
some friends. It'll cost you
some money. It'll cost you
a lot of things and certain pleasures
of the world. It'll cost us. And sometimes I have a hard time
deciding on some things. Whether I should have this
or have that. Whether I should go there or
go here because we lived in
a confused world. Satan has confused us and no longer do we even hear
many sermons on being separated from the world. What does it mean to be
separated from the world? The Bible says,
"Love not the world, "neither the things
of the world. "If any man love the world, "the love of the Father
is not in him. "The world and the lust thereof
shall pass away, "but he that doeth
the will of God "shall abide forever." I remember preaching sermons
on that and hearing sermons
on that years ago, separated from
the sins of the world, having our own lifestyle, having our own
Christian culture. Where is it? We somehow think we can
hold hands with the world and make it to heaven. We somehow think we can have
one foot in the world and one foot in heaven
and we're going to make it. We won't. So, there's repentance, there's faith, and there's obedience, following Christ
even to the death. He said, "Even to the death of
the cross." Are you willing to do that? "You shall know the truth and
the truth shall make you free." Every day, newspapers, radio,
and television tell us of demonstrations and marches
and protests and bombings. All of which are designed to
gain some sort of freedom. A little baby, for example, may scream and cry and
waive its arms and legs trying to be free, but without restraint
and care, it would soon be dead. I read about a baby.
I think it was locked in a car. I don't know whether it's here
in Sacramento or was here in California
and all this heat. And the mother went
into the store and she was only gone
a few minutes and she came back, and the little baby had
suffocated. Baby needs care. A teenager rejects his parents
in search of freedom and soon finds himself
dependent on some drug or on some gang. Thousands of laws indicate that
we do not have total freedom. Jesus said He would give you
total freedom, spiritual and moral freedom, and ultimately freedom from
the very presence of sin when we get to heaven, Pope John Paul gave a message
last week in Austria on the prodigal son. And we have just made
a motion picture, by the way,
on the prodigal that's being released
just about now throughout the country. And I hope you'll see it. It's the best picture
we've ever made. We've been making them
for 30 years. But the history of mankind,
he said, is the history of
the misuse of freedom. The history of mankind is
the misuse of freedom. Jesus will teach us how
to use our freedoms for the glory of God and will bring fulfillment
in our lives. Before you come to Christ,
you're a slave of sin. No other truth can free you. Scientific truth can't free you. Mathematical truth or
philosophical truth will not free you. Suicide will not free you. That only kills the body. It doesn't kill the spirit
or the soul. Zacchaeus was freed by Christ
from greed and Mary Magdalene from lust, and Peter was freed from
his cowardice. Christ truth makes you free. Free from the penalty of sin. You'll never have to go to hell. You'll never face the judgment. Freedom someday from
the presence of sin. Freedom from
the power of sin now. Sin shall no longer have
dominion over you from right now on
if you come to Christ. Right now, the devil snaps
the whip and you obey. You're his slave. You don't think you are,
but you are. You can be free right now
by coming to Christ and letting him change you. I'm going to ask you tonight
to do something we have already seen
hundreds of people do in this crusade. And we've seen thousands
on every continent, Oriental people, black people
in Africa, Europeans, Latin American people in every
country in Latin America, except Bolivia, where we've held crusades. We've seen them do
this same thing. I'm going to ask you to get up
out of your seat and come and stand
in front of the platform as a symbol, a symbolic act
in which you are saying, I do repent
the best I know how, with God's help. I do receive Him. I will follow Him
and obey Him. Or maybe you're coming because
you would like to be sure. We had a Bishop come forward
one night in a city, not too long ago. And he said,
"I came forward "because I wanted to make sure
of my relationship with Christ." You may be a leader
in the church, but you're not sure
that your sin is forgiven, that you're going to heaven,
or that you are free. The kind of freedom that
Christ is talking about. He's the truth that
can set you free. And after you've all come
and stood here, we're going to have
a prayer, and I'm going to say
a word to you and then give you
some literature and you can go back to
your friends. If you're with friends
and relatives, they'll wait on you. If you come from
that top stand up there, it'll take you almost
two minutes, so start now. Hundreds of you come from
everywhere from the back, from the front
and after you've come, we'll have our prayer, give you your literature and you can go back
and join your friends, but get up and come. If there's a doubt
in your heart tonight that you're ready
to meet God, you come and make sure
that your sins are forgiven, that you're going to heaven. Quickly, get up and come
right now. We're going to wait on you. ♪ Just as I am
without one plea, ♪ ♪ But that Thy blood
was shed for me. ♪ As hundreds of people are
responding here tonight, you can call the number
on your screen, where people are standing by
ready to talk to you, to help you with your spiritual needs
and problems. Write the number down. If the line is busy,
wait a few moments and call again. ♪ O Lamb of God,
I come, I come. ♪ You that have been watching
by television. There's a telephone number there
that you can call and find help by talking to
a counselor that's standing by waiting to talk to you about
some of these things that I've talked about
tonight about your relationship
to Christ. Make that call. And if it's busy,
keep trying, May God help you to make
that commitment tonight. And may God bless you and be sure and go to church
next Sunday. ♪ Just as I am
though tossed about ♪ ♪ With many a conflict,
many a doubt ♪ ♪ Fightings within
and fears without ♪ ♪ O Lamb of God,
I come, I come ♪ 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 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. We'll 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. Jesus Christ died
for the world. Whatever country. Whatever the color of your skin. Whatever language you speak. Jesus Christ died
for your sins. It's Jesus.
