“There’s a way of life. There’s a way of death. Which way are you on?” Billy Graham talks about the power in our choices—and the one decision that matters over all we do. Watch and share this classic sermon from 1981 in San Jose, California.

from our archives

the billy graham classics

to you that are watching by television

this great stadium

here at san jose university

in the southern area of san francisco

bay

in san jose is filled to overflowing

there are few empty seats here

and there but if you took the people on

the ground that are sitting all over the

ground it more than fill

this great stadium where the spartans

play

tonight i want you to turn with me to

the old testament to joshua the 24th

chapter

to joshua the 24th chapter now you that

are watching on television

are going to see a telephone number

across the screen you call

anytime during this program or after the

program and their council is standing by

to talk with you about your spiritual

problems and your spiritual needs

and so pick up the phone and call if you

call and it’s busy call again

now the 24th chapter of joshua

joshua as you know was a great military

leader

and he took the place of moses when

moses

went to be with the law and the 15th

verse

now he had called all the leaders of

israel together at a place called

shechem

and he’s getting ready to die and this

is his farewell address

and during this address he warns the

people about their idolatry

he warns them that the judgments of god

will fall upon them

unless they live for the lord and here’s

what he says

and if it seems evil unto you to serve

the lord

choose you this day whom you will serve

if you want to serve the devil serve him

but make a choice

whether the gods which your father

served that were on the other side of

the flood

are the gods of the amorites in whose

land you dwell

but then he says as for me and my house

we will serve the lord joshua said if

every one of you

serves other idols and other gods

makes no difference as for me and my

house we’ve already made a decision

we are going to serve the lord and

that’s a decision that every single

person here tonight

has to make you either have to decide

that you’re going to serve the gods

of materialism all around us

or the true in the living god

and joshua was warning the people to

choose god

to follow him instead of these other

gods

and so we have to make a choice

moses had warned israel much earlier

generation earlier

when he was dying he said i call heaven

and earth to record

this day against you that i’ve set

before you life and death

blessing and cursing therefore choose

life that both

thou and thy seed may live

moses had said the same thing that

joshua is saying

separated by many years and every

generation has to hear it

over and over and over again and that’s

why the gospel never grows old

it applies to every generation alike

we have to make a choice alexander the

great was asked how he conquered the

world

he said by not wavering and

james says in the first chapter he that

wavereth is like

a wave of the sea driven with the wind

and tossed

he said a double-minded man is unstable

in all his ways

are you unstable about your relationship

to christ

do you waver in your relationship to

christ are you totally committed to

christ

as savior-in-law or do you waver about

it

many of you wave over the way you live

and jesus warned the hypocrites people

who pretend

one thing and live another this was his

great battle with the hypocrites in the

church

we have old proverbs that are familiar

to us all

he who hesitates is lost procrastination

is the thief of time

a stitch in time saves nine a bird in

the hand

is worth two in the bush don’t waver

make a decision do it now that’s what

joshua was saying

and joshua the great military hero that

had led them from victory to victory

reminded them

of all the victories that god had given

and he said serve god and live serve

these other gods and you’ll die and come

under the judgment of god

and the message has not changed

now the wars were over but joshua found

that the people were going toward

idolatry and many times the problems of

peace are greater

than the problems of war and he had

called all these leaders to shechem

now shechem was a place the most

historical place in all

of israel at that time and still is

today it was where abraham had first

settled when he left ur of the chaldees

it is where jacob had purchased his

parcel of land

it was where the bones of joseph had

been buried when they were brought up

from egypt

and so he has there are two mountains

there i’ve stood there

and on one mountain he put six of the

tribes and on the other mountain he put

the other six

and joshua spoke with a mighty voice

even though he was an old man

and he reviews the history of israel and

how god had blessed them

and how they had won their victories not

by their own power and their own

strategies and their own ingenuity

and their own strength but by the power

of god

and the people should have been grateful

to god but instead

they were now going to other gods and we

in america

should be grateful to god for the

blessings he’s given us

but what do we find we find that we’re

worshiping other gods

the gods of pleasure the gods of lust

and greed and hate

the gods of materialism even the gods of

war

and joshua tells them that such a

condition cannot continue

they must decide whether they want to

serve the idols or to serve the living

god

and he will not allow any neutrality

neither does jesus christ and joshua

said you have to decide immediately now

choose you this day not tomorrow this

day

whom you’re going to serve and many of

you are going to have to decide tonight

what is the number one priority in your

life

is the priority christ

or is the prior to something else

christ demands first place

there’s no room on the throne of your

heart

for two gods it’s either christ

or it’s the other god

because i believe the emphasis must we

must

lay it out straight that you cannot

serve

god and mammon you must make a choice

and i found that the harder the

challenge is the greater the response

young people today want a challenge

they want something tough and hard all

right give your life to christ

he’ll challenge you because he says you

must deny self

and take up a cross he says i’m going to

a place of execution come and go with me

deny your own selfish ambitions and lust

and turn to me and go to the cross with

me

now paul taught that a christian is

someone who has turned to god from

idols to serve the living and the true

god

there’s a film showing throughout the

world this year called the idol

maker but a christian is an idol breaker

and regardless of their decision joshua

said it’s for me and my house

we’re going to serve the lord you know

adam and eve had to make a choice in the

garden of eden

god said if you want to build a

wonderful world

we’ll build it together but i’m going to

test you because i’ve given to you

the ability to choose i haven’t made you

a robot in which i could punch a button

and you would obey me

i’ve made you in my image you have the

right to choose

so when adam and eve face that choice

they chose wrongly

they broke the law of god and god said

in the day that you do

you will suffer and die and man has been

suffering

ever since and it’s all because of that

first sin

in the garden of eden and man has been

inheriting that

tendency to sin ever since the seed of

sin is

in us when we’re born david said in

sin did my mother conceive me

think of it now at conception sin

was already planted and then comes the

age of accountability moral

accountability maybe eight or nine or

ten years of age

when you are held accountable by god for

your actions and you

choose to sin and then the rest of your

life you

practice sin you’re born towards sin

you choose to sin at a certain point

and then you practice sin and the bible

says we have all

sin and we’re all idolaters

now adam had to make a choice and he

made the wrong choice

you have to make a choice many of you

that are watching by television i hope

that you’ll use that telephone number

right now and call in and make the

choice

for christ and say to that counselor as

for me in my house

i choose the lord

and then many choices like the rich

young ruler

remember he came to jesus and he was

filled with

questions and he wanted eternal life and

he said

sir what must i do to find eternal life

and jesus said

looked at him and loved him and said go

sell all that you have give it to the

poor

take up the cross follow me

the young man was grieved he wept

he wanted christ but he wanted his money

more

now if he had said all right i’ll do it

lord i’m sure the lord would have said

no it’s not your money i want i want

your heart

it’s our attitude toward these idols and

toward the

these things the television itself can

become an idol

when we walk into the room all

conversation stops and

we sort of sit there in reverence

watching that box

to see if j.r is going to be shot again

now the bible says we must choose two

ways of life

jeremiah had written thus saith the lord

behold i

set before you the way of life and the

way of death there’s a way of life

there’s a way of death which way are you

on

jesus said i am the way

i am the way i’m the only way i’m the

only way to permanent peace i’m the only

way to

permanent joy i’m the only way to

eternal life

i’m the only way to forgiveness of sin

i’m the only way to the father

you have to come by me and that

eliminates a lot of people when jesus

began to talk about dying on the cross

a lot of his followers left him they

said lord we thought you were going to

sit up on a big throne and

we were going to drive in cadillac’s and

we were going to have beautiful swimming

pools and lovely ladies and all the rest

of it

we didn’t really know that you were

going to die

and wanted us to go with you we thought

this was going to be a kingdom and we

were going to overthrow rome and we were

going to rule the world

and that is going to happen someday

but not now the cross before the crown

some of us want the crown before the

cross

the bible says there is a way that

seemeth right

unto a man but the end thereof are the

ways of death

what are some of the ways well some

people say i’m going to follow my

conscience but you don’t follow your

conscience

many of us have dead consciences your

conscience is no longer a safe guide

you’ve hardened it you’ve deadened it

and then other people say well i try to

be sincere in everything i do

we’re here on a football stadium right

here

and many years ago i saw a man pick up a

football

and he ran 65 yards the wrong way

now he was one of the most sincere

fellas you ever saw

lost the game

and then there are many people that say

well you know i do a lot of good works

and

i give money to charitable causes and i

do all that i’m sure god will understand

the bible says for by grace are ye saved

through faith not

not that not of yourselves but the gift

of god not of works

lest any man should boast see if you

could work your way to heaven and

pay your way to heaven you’d get up and

say look what i did i got myself here by

my own good works

the only way you’re ever going to make

it is to come to that cross

where christ took our sins and our

judgment and our hell

and identify ourselves with him

and then there’s some people that say

well i’ll reform

i’ll do better i know people that are

always

saying i’m going to do better but they

never do better

they don’t have any power within them to

do better until they come to christ and

when you come to christ

an explosion takes place

of power that he gives you to live a new

life

i can’t live the christian life i have

no power within me to live the christian

life

the holy spirit has to live in me and

christ has to live through me

i cannot live the christian life i’m a

total flop in failure

jesus said enter yen at the straight

gate for wide is the gate and broad is

the way that leadeth to destruction and

many

there be which go in there because

straight is the gate and narrows the way

that leadeth unto life and few there be

that find it

phew he said only a few are going to

find

that narrow gate in that narrow way as i

said last evening

are you among that few

you not only choose between two ways of

life but you choose between two masters

jesus said no man can serve two masters

father he will hate the one and love the

other or else he will hold to the one

and despise the other you cannot serve

god and materialism he says

in matthew the sixth chapter in the

sermon on the mount you have to make a

choice

all the way through the bible choices

choices choices choices choices

not only between two ways of life and

two masters

but you’re going to have to choose

between two fathers

two spiritual fathers he said in

john 8 a very shocking statement

the 44th verse he said you are of your

father the devil and the lust of your

father you will do now

he says for many of you the devil is

your spiritual father

now you’re not aware of it

you wouldn’t admit it but that’s the way

god looks at it

there’s either god your spiritual father

the true and the living god

christ or there is the devil

and then you have to choose not only

between two ways of life and two masters

and two fathers

but you have to choose between two

destinies heaven or hell

solomon wrote about the way to hell in

proverbs

7 27. c.s lewis the great

cambridge and oxford professor he taught

at both universities

he used to emphasize he said no one ever

had so much to say about the way to hell

as did jesus christ

on the other hand no one ever spoke of

heaven with more clarity and authority

as jesus christ and one of the most

played pop songs is the led zeppelin

stairway to heaven jesus christ is the

stairway to heaven

he is the way to heaven

come to him and if you want to come to

him pick up that telephone if you’re

watching

and call that counselor who’s waiting to

talk to you about the way to heaven and

how you can find christ

he said in my father’s house on many

mansions if it were not so i would have

told you

yes jesus is in heaven preparing

your estate right now waiting for you

there is a future life and eternal life

does not begin when you

die and go to heaven it begins here and

now when you make this

choice for christ because eternity

eternal life comes to dwell in your

heart tonight jesus christ is the

gateway to heaven

now this choice also you must make

yourself

joshua said it’s for me and my house we

will serve the lord

your father can’t make it for you your

mother can’t make it for you

your children can’t make it for you

this is where you must choose yourself

he knew that he could not choose for the

tribes of israel they must choose for

themselves

man is a social being however there’s an

inner

sanctuary within ourselves where we

retire from all other fellowships

comradeships and influences and there’s

a lonely arena

where the greatest battles of life must

be fought

alone and this is a decision

that you have to make alone moses said

i call heaven and earth to record

this day that i have set before you

life and death blessing and cursing

therefore choose life

that thou and thy seed may live forever

notice it says thy seed

this has something to do with your

children and your grandchildren

and your children’s children my son and

i were talking tonight about

how it passes on from generation to

generation

this faith that we have in christ

the writer to hebrews recounts how moses

esteeming the reproach of christ

greater riches in the treasures of egypt

choosing rather to suffer the affliction

with the people of god than to enjoy the

pleasures of sin for a season

he made a choice moses could have

probably been the pharaoh of egypt

he was the son of pharaoh’s daughter

heir to all the riches and power of

egypt

and he made a choice to suffer

persecution

and the reproach with the people of god

he didn’t know that his name would be in

history

he didn’t know that someday he would

lead all of israel he didn’t know that

someday he would be considered one of

the greatest men that ever lived

when he made that choice

he made it on the basis of simple faith

in god

some think that guy lafla is the world’s

greatest hockey player

and he said a month ago that each of us

has only one past but there are many

futures you see you can’t change your

past

but you can determine your destiny by

deciding

for christ and when you do that christ

changes your past he wipes out all the

sins of the past

because you see the blood of jesus

christ his son cleanseth from

all sin without the shedding of blood

there is

no forgiveness when he died on that

cross he forgave

all the past

you tonight are reminded

of the many sins in your life the holy

spirits bring them to your mind right

now

and you know they stand against you at

the judgment where every secret thing

will be brought out

but jesus tonight offers forgiveness

but he offers more than forgiveness he

offers justification

just as though you had never committed a

sin

what a wonderful thing to go to bed

tonight and know that the past is gone

forgiven cleansed and god no longer

remembers

your sins yes

and this choice is very urgent to delay

makes the right decision harder

indecision is itself a choice not to

decide is to decide not to

choose now nowhere in the bible does it

promise a tomorrow

come while you can time itself makes the

decision for you if you don’t

you say but what do i have to do

three things you must be willing to

repent of your sin that means to change

your way of thinking

about your sins and realize how bad they

are in the sight of god

change your way you’re thinking about

god and say i love him and i’m going to

love him with all my heart mind and soul

i’m going to make him the priority of my

life i’m going to put him first from now

on he’s going to be not only my savior

but my lord

you may be a member of the church you

may not be a member of any church

you may be a officer in the church but

you’re not sure about your relationship

with christ and you want to be sure

and you must be willing to repent and

secondly

by faith receive christ into your heart

that means you put your whole weight on

him and

trust him and him alone and thirdly you

follow and serve him as his disciple and

follower

and obey him that means a big change for

many of you if you make this choice

i’m going to ask you to make it now and

i’m going to ask you to do it publicly

as we’ve seen

thousands of people this week already

come to christ

i’m going to ask you to get up from your

seat if you start from that top stand up

there it’ll take you two minutes so

start now

and come and stand in front of this

platform as you all stand here in front

of the platform i’m going to say a word

to you

and have a prayer with you and give you

some literature

and you can go back and join your

friends you’re making that choice by

coming and standing here

and the reason i do it publicly is

because every person that jesus called

he called publicly

joshua called upon the people publicly

moses called upon the people publicly

to inscribe their commitment

that would be seen publicly for

generations to come

i’m asking you tonight to publicly and

openly come

and say tonight christ is going to be

priority in my life

i want to know that i have eternal life

and you that have been watching by

television pick up the telephone and

call that number

there are people standing by to talk to

you right now

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

[Music]

you that are watching by television can

see that here

in this stadium at san jose university

in california

that hundreds of people are coming to

make their commitment to christ

pick up the phone you see on your screen

you dial that number and if you don’t

get in

right away keep calling they’ll be there

all evening

and make your commitment to christ over

the telephone or ask the counselor to

ask

answer your questions god help you to

make that commitment

and please 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

i’ll 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

[Music]

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

one billy graham parkway

department c charlotte north carolina

28201

or you can contact us on the web 24 7 at

peacewithgod.com

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

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

billy graham library