Billy Graham answers tough questions about life and death in this message from the archives. Watch and share different #MondayNightClassics, uploaded every Monday at 8 p.m. Eastern.

from our archives the Billy Graham

classics I’m going to ask you to turn

with me to the third chapter of the book

of Genesis and at the end of that

chapter it says this and the Lord God

said Behold the man is become as one of

us to know good and evil and now lest he

put forth his hand and take also the

tree of life and eat and live forever

therefore the Lord God sent him forth

from the Garden of Eden to till the

ground from which it taken so he drove

out the man and he placed at the east of

the Garden of Eden a cherubim and a

flaming sword which turned every one to

keep the way of the Tree of Life in

other words God was keeping man away

from the Tree of Life

because if man had eaten the Tree of

Life he would have lived forever in his

sins without any hope of redemption

suppose for example that a man like

Hitler came along and ate of the tree of

life and live forever and we would have

Hitler for thousands of years and many

more Hitler’s and they would control the

earth and so God sent death along as a

judgment but also a blessing because

every generation comes and dies and a

new generation is born and all the

Hitler’s of the world die eventually and

the Bible says in Ecclesiastes 3 –

there’s a time to be born and a time to

die it’s appointed unto man once to die

but after that the judgment but often I

find is the clergyman that people do not

wish to talk about death why in America

17 year olds by the time they’re 17 have

seen on average 15,000 murders on

television and there’s a rash of

bestsellers on death right now

and some think of death as a period of

life Sir Winston Churchill once said the

older you get the more sleep you need

finally you sleep all the time in life

there are many avenues he said but all

lead to that all embracing death and I

want to ask you tonight are you prepared

to die

have you made any preparation at all for

your death

oh yes maybe financially you have but

what about your spirit your soul that’s

going to live forever

have you made a study of it oh it

occupies a lot of your thinking I know

that but the loss and the severance of

things you loved do not like to leave

behind family and friends and for others

it’s not only a time of life but it’s a

questionmark

death us just in so much uncertainty and

we ask ourselves why why why you see a

young man cut down in the prime of life

and you ask why or you see a boy or girl

and you asked why why does all this have

to happen part of it is the terror and

the fear of the unknown people never

like to be unprepared they’re anxious

about the future and I want to quote one

passage from Amos the fourth chapter

that says prepare to meet thy God are

you prepared if you’re not prepared and

have a doubt about it pick up the

telephone and call the number on your

screen

they’ll be counselors there that will

talk to you about how you can prepare to

meet death and judgment now we want to

soften the reality of death we don’t

want to talk about it some of us don’t

want to think about it so we have a lot

of cosmetics and facelifts and the

frantic search for the mythical Fountain

of Youth that goes on but I don’t want

to turn tonight to the psychologist or

the sociologist or the medical students

but to the Bible what does the Bible say

about death

first the Bible says that death is an

enemy of man and God Paul calls it an

enemy says first Corinthians 15 the last

enemy that shall be destroyed is death

now it’s an enemy to God because God

never meant for man to die when he

created us he meant for us to live

forever but we broke his law we rebelled

against him and he said if you do that

you’re going to die he had to keep his

word neither sin the pain no disease nor

death were part of God’s original plan

for man death was the penalty for sin

when he said thou shalt surely die and

the judgment dust thou art and unto dust

thou shalt return came after man’s

rebellion are you prepared and then

secondly the Bible teaches that this

enemy of death is going to be destroyed

1st Corinthians 15 26 the last enemy to

be destroyed is death when we were

touring Russia this past year and we

went to these great Orthodox cathedrals

and it was my privilege to preach in

them the gospel just like I do here and

in the Soviet Union I had a theologian

from the theological Academy in

Leningrad say to me in the car as we

were riding along he said Mr Graham he

said I would like to see you put more

emphasis on the resurrection of Christ

because he said if Christ be not risen

our faith is in vain and I thought to

myself Here I am learning at the feet of

a man in the Soviet Union

about the resurrection of Jesus Christ

now some people questioned the

resurrection in this scientific age but

Arnall of rugby said I know of no fact

in history of mankind which is attested

by fuller and better evidence of every

soil

said would Clark the English High Court

judge said some time ago the

evidence of the resurrection I accept

unreservedly as fact over and over again

in the High Court I’ve secured a verdict

on evidence not nearly so compelling

many of our scientists believe in the

resurrection of Jesus Christ now third

live the Bible teaches that this enemy

of death has already been defeated

already defeated Paul says o death where

is thy sting o grave where is thy

victory by death and resurrection of

Christ he said I am he that liveth and

was dead and behold I am Alive for

evermore and have the keys of hell and

death think of it he has the keys of

hell and the keys of death now what is

this defeat of death Paul likens it to a

poisonous insect whose sting has been

withdrawn

he says the sting of death is sin now I

want you to think about death for a

person who does not know Christ for an

unbeliever this juk is our reviving that

old pop song of David clayton-thomas

which goes and when I die I pray there

ain’t no hell but the Bible teaches

there will be a judgment and you cannot

read the Bible and miss the references

to hell and I don’t see how a clergyman

can preach without talking about it

because it’s so much in the scriptures

and the one that taught so much about it

is Jesus more than any other person in

the Bible to be in hell is to be out of

the presence of God what is hell I’m not

going to give you my imagination I’m not

going to do what some have done in the

past and use their imagination to

frighten people we ought to be

frightened but I want to tell you what I

believe the Bible teaches there are

three words that describe Hell in the

Bible for me one is fire for our God is

a consuming fire says Hebrews 12 but the

Bible also teaches that fire is used

symbolically it’s

our tongues are set on fire of hell that

doesn’t mean literal combustion in James

it’s symbolic and Jesus used this symbol

over and over I believe that the fire is

a thirst for Almighty God that can never

be quenched you’ll go out into eternity

thirsting for God and you can never find

him and you can never find the

fulfillment that you missed in this life

and then secondly the word darkness the

Bible says God is light and matthew 8:12

says but the children of the kingdom

shall be cast out into outer darkness

hell is called

outer darkness its separation from God

in darkness that’s the reason those that

go to hell will not see anybody else

it’ll be too dark you’re not going to go

down there and set up a nightclub and

have a big time and have beautiful golf

courses and all the rest of it is some

people think no its separation from God

from darkness from from light and then

the third phrase that Jesus uses is the

second death God is life it is separated

from life and death and he’ll were cast

into the lake of fire this is the second

death revelation 20:14 says you die the

first time naturally your body dies now

your soul your spirit is still alive but

it’s dead it’s dead toward God just like

it is tonight there are thousands of

people here in this audience in South

Florida tonight whose spirit is dead

toward God your body is alive you go to

church you’re religious as most people

are around the world you go to India and

you’ll find more religion in any country

in the world but deep in your heart you

don’t really know Christ you haven’t

made your peace with God now God doesn’t

take any delight in hell he didn’t

create hell for you he made hell for the

devil and his angels

but if you persist and go

the devil’s way that’s where you’re

going now when Jesus Christ died on the

cross that was a judgment God judged

Christ in your place and Jesus being who

he was had the capacity to endure hell

for you and when Christ said my God my

God why hast thou forsaken me in that

terrible moment in a way that we cannot

possibly fathom or understand the Lord

Jesus Christ and his father was

separated and Jesus took the pangs of

Hell and he suffered in that moment

everything that man will ever be called

upon to suffer he did it for you because

he loves you and now God says you must

repent of your sins and receive him into

your heart and if you don’t do it and

you persist in listening to the voice of

the devil who says you have plenty of

time or who tells you that it’s not true

or whatever he’s whispering to you yes

you have to make a choice you have to

make a choice between some things that

are wrong in your life and you have to

make a choice with Christ which will it

be what is your choice if you want to

make a choice tonight for Christ or if

you want to talk about it pick up the

telephone and call the person that’s on

the other end on that number that’s on

your screen write it down now you may

dial several times and keep on dialing

they’ll be there all evening the death

of Christ was a judgment and the

scripture says that God’s desire is that

all men should be saved all women should

be saved

that’s God’s desire he wants it so much

that He gave His Son to die on the cross

for you and the words used in those

scriptures are designed wish not will

and purpose it’s not God’s will or

purpose that you die it’s his desire

that you be saved and you have a choice

now what about what happens to the

believer so much could be said about

this I could talk all evening about

heaven and about the joys and the thrill

the excitement it’s going to be in

heaven for all of us who know Christ in

Christ the judgement is past the storm

is over the hell is past if you know

Christ

there’ll be no judgment for you there’s

therefore now no judgment to them that

are in Christ Jesus there is no hell for

you you will live eternally with the

Lord Jesus Christ and with the saints of

all the ages by his death he destroyed

dead in Christ we no longer regard death

is the king of terrors Paul said I have

a desire to depart to be with Christ

which is far better he said to be with

Christ is better than living here and

now I want to be with him said the

Apostle Paul why was it because he

worked so hard for Christ because he’d

suffered so much no he was ready because

long ago he had met Christ on the

Damascus Road and had an experience with

the Lord Jesus Christ and Christ came

into his heart and he had found a

fulfillment and a peace and a joy he

found the purpose and the meaning of his

life when he had that encounter with

Christ you can have that same experience

with Christ tonight right here before

you leave here there many people think

that it’s a long process in there may be

a process in which you’re convicted by

the Spirit of God and there may be a

process like birth there’s the moment of

conception there’s the months of

gestation then comes birth and then

there comes growing all of those are

different steps and different processes

some may take place almost all at once

we do not know how the Holy Spirit works

at that point in each individual life

sometimes it’s individual but tonight

you need to take a step to Christ and

make sure if you don’t know and you’re

not certain be sure many people do not

have a date when they came to Christ but

it’s good for many people to come and

make a date and say yes that was the

night that I became sure

now the conquest of death

is the final great achievement of what

we call Christianity and Judaism

physical death is but a transition from

life on earth with Christ to eternal

life in heaven with Christ it’s like

going through a door when you die you

leave one room and you enter another

bigger room which is more beautiful and

more wonderful and the transition which

we call death is based on the fact that

Jesus was raised from the dead for we

know that Christ being raised from the

dead will never die again death no

longer has in a dominion over him says

Romans 6:4 as in Adam all die so also in

Christ shall all be made alive you’re

not going to die alone if you know

Christ I believe as I said in a book

that I wrote on angels that there is a

death angel and that angel comes and

takes you by the hand and leads you into

the presence of Christ it’s a wonderful

thing to die as a believer I’ve seen

believers die and I’ve seen those that

did not know Christ died and there’s a

vast difference in the way they die

today people are so sedated we don’t

have their final words as we used to

have but I have many memories of people

dying talking about the music that they

hear talking about who they see my own

mother was one she seemed as though she

could hear and see into the future jesus

said he that believeth on me shall never

die

believe it’s how this he meant that

you’ll never die spiritually an atheist

only sees a hopeless end to life but the

Christian sees an endless hope we look

beyond our present sorrow to the triumph

of Christ blessed are the dead who die

in the Lord but Christ brings a

permanent freedom from evil to the

believer who dies in him those that

don’t know Christ may not desire this

they may prefer go on living in your

sins you have only a short time so

it up as we get older life is pressing

in on us get all you can out of it now

that’s the philosophy of many here in

South Florida as well as all over the

world you don’t have long

you’ll be an eternity and the decision

you make tonight may decide where you’ll

be

do you know Christ the word depart the

Bible uses the word depart you see the

Bible teaches that we’re citizens of two

worlds now I’m a citizen of the United

States but I’m also a citizen of heaven

I’m a citizen of another world heaven

and that’s where I’m going

and I’ll be there it won’t be too many

months of years before I go the vast

majority of my life has already been

lived my record has already been made I

don’t have very much longer I know that

I don’t plan to retire I feel like I’m

eighteen years of age but I know that

I’m not I can look at the x-rays when

they take the x-rays and see

deterioration of a bone here and there

through something that I don’t even know

what it is I can’t feel it

but I know at some point I’ll feel it

that’ll start having its effect on the

body we all die

I’m not going to escape it I don’t want

to escape it I want to go because to be

with Christ is far better than to be

even in Florida

the Bible says we shall be like him for

we shall see him as he is Napoleon once

said I die before my time and my body

will be given back to the earth to

become the food of worms such as the

fate soon of the great Napoleon what a

contrast to the words of Jude he said I

know my Redeemer liveth and though after

my skin worms destroy this body yet in

my flesh shall I see God I’m looking

forward to seeing him face to face

there’s an old English prayer that says

Lord grant that my last hour may be my

finest hour

Paul said I fought the good fight I

finished the race I’ve kept the faith an

Anglican bishop of the last century said

I hope when I come to die I shall not

have to say I wish I had loved Christ

more I’m going to ask you tonight to

make sure that you’re ready what do you

have to do father mother

senior citizen boy or girl we never know

in this world in which we live when

anyone is going to go you get out on

these highways and streets and you never

know are you ready what do I have to do

to be ready first the Bible teaches you

must repent of your sins and you say

well what is repentance repentance is

changing changing your mind toward God

and toward yourself seeing yourself a

sinner and seeing the holiness and the

righteousness of God looking at the

cross of Christ and seeing that he died

for you but it also means a change of

living you’re going to change your

habits from this moment on you’re going

to ask God to help you you may not be

able to you may not have the strength to

but if you’ll ask God to help you he’ll

help you and then the second thing you

must do is to believe that word believe

means more than just believing with your

mind it Means Committee

yourself your total self to Christ as

Savior and Lord and then the third thing

you must be willing to follow him and

serve Him

are you willing to do that you say Billy

I decided that years ago did you really

is there a doubt about it many older

people have been religious and younger

people too because I was young when I

accepted Christ 16 or 17 years of age

and vice president the young people

Society in my church but I knew that I

really didn’t know Christ I already knew

that and when they asked people to come

and make it certain I went and I’m so

glad that I did that night you can make

sure tonight I’m going to ask you to

come and stand in front of this platform

as we’ve seen hundreds every night do

I’m asking you to come publicly he said

if you’re not willing to acknowledge me

publicly before men

I’ll not acknowledge you before my

father which is in heaven there’s

something about coming publicly that

helps settle it and I’m going to ask you

to come if you’re with friends or

relatives they’ll wait and after you’ve

all come I’m going to say a word to you

and have a prayer with you give you some

literature to help you in your Christian

life you get up and come we’re going to

wait on you hundreds of you if you come

from this stand back here it’ll take

about a minute many of you have a minute

and a half this stand and this one over

here close to two minutes get up and

come right now and after you’ve come

we’ll stand here a few minutes and have

a prayer and then you go back and join

your friends very simple but very

important because your whole eternal

future may hang on what happens tonight

and you that are watching by television

pick up the telephone and call that

number and make your commitment to

Christ as people are already beginning

to come here in this Stadium in Fort

Lauderdale Florida just get up and come

now hundreds of you we’re going to wait

on

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just as many hundreds are making their

commitment to Jesus Christ here at

Lockhart stadium you can too by calling

the telephone number on your screen

right now this is probably the most

important call you could ever make so

call now

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to you that are watching by television

you can see that here in Fort Lauderdale

Florida many hundreds of people are

coming to make their commitment to

Christ to make sure that they know him

as their Lord and Savior you can make

sure where you are you may be in a hotel

room maybe in your bedroom living room

maybe in a bar somewhere I don’t know

where you can say yes Lord Jesus come

into my heart and be sure and 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’ll 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 yet

187 seven seven seven two four five five

nine that’s one eight seven seven seven

seven two forty five fifty nine or you

can write to us at billy graham one

Billy Graham Parkway Department C

Charlotte North Carolina two eight two

zero one or you can contact us on the

web 24/7 at peace with God TV will 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

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witness the story that and give your

wife

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me

do the Billy

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towards the bottom into the darkness

this is all mission sharing

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the Billy Graham Evangelistic

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