The Bible says in Romans 5:1, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” This New Year’s Day, hear Billy Graham explain how you can be filled with God’s peace through a relationship with His Son, Jesus Christ, in this 1975 message from Lubbock, Texas. Watch more #MondayNightClassics every Monday at 8 p.m. ET. CONNECT with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association: on Facebook: / billygrahamevangelisticassociation
on Instagram: / bgea
on Twitter: / bgea
on Pinterest: / bgea
on YouTube: / billygraham on TikTok: / bgeaofficial
from our archives the Billy Graham
classics his gra on
me
and good with
brother to
[Applause]
Shining
Oh
beautiful for
spaceous skies for amber waves of
grain for Perle
mountain
majesties of all the fruited
pl
[Music]
Amer God Shar his grace
on and
Crown thy good with
Brotherhood from sea to
shining
[Music]
sea
I don’t know how you
feel but I feel proud tonight to be an
American this year most of our crusades
have been
abroad and we have been in various parts
of the world holding Evangelistic
Crusades like this next year we are
staying the entire year in the United
States holding Crusades from one end of
the country to the other and
participating in scores of Bicentennial
events because we believe that the
greatest service we can make to America
in her bicentennial year will be to
strengthen the
spiritual strength that we do have in
this country and pray that God will make
next year
1976 a year of spiritual Revival and
renewal in this nation I believe that if
we Americans will make it a year of
prayer we can see what could happen to
this nation in just one
year and I hope that all of you will be
participating in
that
tonight I want to turn again to what
could be called a Christmas
text though I wasn’t thinking of it when
I prepared to this message but it’s the
14th verse of the second chapter of
Luke’s gospel just one
verse glory to God in the highest and on
Earth peace Good Will toward men I want
to speak tonight on the subject of
biblical peace how do we have peace Luke
12:49 our same Lord Jesus Christ is
speaking I am come to send fire on the
earth he
said I have come to send fire on the
earth and then Matthew 10:34 he says
something else very strange he says
think not that I’ve come to send peace
on
Earth I come not to send peace but a
sword it sounds like a contradiction
it sounds like he didn’t know what he
was talking about he was announced as
the Prince of Peace in the Old Testament
he came in fulfillment of the Prophecies
of the Old Testament the Angels
announced him as the one that was going
to bring
peace and now when he reaches the age of
30 years of age and he enters upon his
ministry he said I have come to bring
fire on the
earth and he says I’ve come not to bring
peace but a sword
how do we reconcile it what did he
mean there are those who tried to reduce
Christ to the level of a genial
innocuous AA but Christ said you’re
wrong I’m a fire
Setter I’m a sword
wielder this generation has been called
the tormented generation and the reason
that it’s been called that is because
it’s an age of
Revolution a technological Revolution
that is causing other revolutions
throughout the world political
revolutions old orders are dying and new
orders are coming into being nations are
being overthrown by Revolution almost
weekly as we read in our
newspapers and on that tragic day here
in Texas that November day
1963 President
Kennedy had prepared to say to the
Dallas Citizens Council these
words we in this generation are by
Destiny rather than by choice Watchmen
on the walls of world Freedom we did not
seek this responsibility but we will not
shrink from
it the 20th century will be called the
century of Revolution and the whole
world order is changing and changing
rapidly right now
morally structurally in business labor
government everything is in
a is in change and in
crisis God loves our world he loves you
so much that he gave his son to die on
the cross to bring
peace and the Bible teaches three kinds
of
Peace only
three first there is peace with God
therefore being justified by faith we
have peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ said the Apostle Paul in
Romans
51 the greatest need that you have right
now tonight as an individual is peace
with God you say well Billy I’m not at
war with
God yes you are you may not be conscious
of it God calls it War because you are
in Rebellion against it
you don’t do his
will you haven’t yielded your life as to
him as Lord and Master and savior oh
you’re a member of the
church you’re a fairly decent
person but the Bible says we don’t even
know our hearts our hearts are deceitful
and desperately wicked now that’s how
God looks at
it I go to the Mayo Clinic every year
for an examination and they always give
me an x-ray and they usually find a
little something wrong somewhere inside
of
me and on two or three occasions they’ve
operated because of what they saw in the
X-ray I didn’t know it was
there but the X-ray shows it
up you see you don’t know that you’re
rebelling against God you’re not quite
conscious of it you’re not shaking your
fist in God’s
face but you’re not go living according
to the word of God you’re not giving
time to prayer you’re not giving time to
Bible study you’re not giving time to
Soul winning you’re not giving
everything that you possibly could
give and so God looks upon you and God
pronounces the verdict and the diagnosis
is that your heart is
sinful that’s God’s diagnosis that’s the
way he looks at
you he says you’re a sinner you’ve
broken my laws you’re in Rebellion
against me and what you need is
reconciliation and the greatest need
that we have tonight is reconciliation
with
God how do you get reconciled with God
that’s what the cross is all about on
the cross the Lord Jesus Christ reached
one hand and took the hand of God and
the other hand and took your hand and
brought us together and reconciled us to
God at the cross and you can only find
God at the cross
Alexander sanen was over here recently
remember and he Ted around the country
and he told a little story that
everybody ought to hear if you didn’t
hear it he said when he was in that
prison for so long there came one time
and one time only when he thought of
suicide he said he was not allowed ever
to speak to his cellmate for weeks on
end they could not speak to each other
and he said that his cellmates saw him
growing weaker and weaker and more
depressed and more discouraged all the
time and he said his cmate took a little
stick and in the sand of the dirt in the
cell he drew a picture of the
Cross and sanon said at that
moment the whole purpose of my
existence dawned upon
me because he said I realize that Jesus
Christ shed his blood for me on that
cross and he said that gave me the
courage to live through my
imprisonment have you come to that
cross not with all your religious
trappings not with all your pretenses
and pride but have you come in great
humility and said oh Lord I’ve sinned
against you and I’m sorry and I’m
willing for you to come into my life and
change my life and change my way of
living I talked to a man this afternoon
in a distant
City goes to
church sits on the front
row he said I’m going to commit suicide
in just a few
minutes I’ve become so
depressed I prayed with him he promised
to wait at least another 48 hours before
he commits
suicide are the pressures of Life
pressing in on you like
that the suicide rate in this country is
rising every hour as people are coming
to the end of themselves and some of it
is right in the church
people who have religion but do not have
Jesus Christ a pastor in this town told
me yesterday he said Billy the greatest
problem we face in West
Texas is that we have religion but we
don’t really know Jesus
Christ that’s why Jesus said to
Nicodemus you must be born again and he
was a religious
man peace with God that’s why Christ
died that’s why he rose again that’s
what the cross is all about Christ did
his part on the cross in dying for you
now you must receive him you see God is
willing to offer you a
pardon he’ll pardon you and forgive you
but more than that he will change you
here and now and You Begin eternal life
not when you die you begin eternal life
tonight right
now and you can have heaven on
Earth joy and peace and Security in the
midst of a world that’s crumbling in
fact that’s what peace
means peace means
Tranquility no matter what the
circumstances let the bombs fall let the
wars come let the world tear
apart let your husband leave you of your
wife leave
you let death come to the family all
these things will cause tears
yes but in the midst of
it is peace because you have peace with
God and that brings us to our second
Point there’s the peace of God peace
with God now now peace of God Jesus said
Peace I leave with you my peace I give
unto you not as the world giveth give I
unto you now the world can give you a
peace
you can go out here and get drunk and
get a little peace you can go out and
take some drugs and have some little
peace and Tranquility for a short
time you can go out here and have a sex
experience have an
affair and you’ll have a little peace
and a little fun and a little marment a
little joy for a little while the Bible
says this pleasure in sin for a short
season but then comes the terrible
Moment of Truth when you must face
reality when you must face God you must
face the Judgment you must face
eternity and you don’t have the peace of
God and the greatest Legacy that Christ
left us was his peace he said my peace I
give unto you think of the serenity with
which Jesus Christ moved in his
life he wasn’t hurrying about here in
there like we
do he seemed to take time with
everybody he only had three
years he could have fed all the hungry
people in the
world with one wave of his of his arm he
could have stopped all the wars but he
didn’t do
it that wasn’t God’s plan God’s plan was
that he would go to the
cross and take your sins you see God
couldn’t be just and just just forgive
you God couldn’t come along and Pat you
on the back and say Jim Bill Susie Mary
I forgive you I know you’ve broken my
law and you’ve sinned you see to us sin
seems trivial it doesn’t seem serious
but in God’s sight it’s deadly serious
it means Eternal
death it means judgment God is a just
God absolutely
just somebody had to Bear the punishment
somebody had to spend the time in the
prison someone had to suffer the pangs
of hell and judgment and Jesus Christ
stepped out and said I
will and he took your
judgment and your
hell and when he was on that cross he
said to the people that were
driving the nails in his hands he prayed
to the father he said father forgive
them
too they don’t even know what what
they’re
doing I expect to see the men that drove
the nails in his hands I expect to see
them in
heaven because I believe that God
answered the prayer of his son that
day there’s never been a person that
called upon the Lord even with a sigh or
a
breath and said Lord remember the thief
on the cross he deserved death he
deserved to die he was a murderer he was
a robber and all he did was turn to
Jesus Christ and say remember me when
thou comest into thy kingdom and Jesus
said today Thou shalt be with me in
Paradise remember
me that’s
all that
quick people say well you can’t come to
Christ that quick and have your life
change like that you certainly can Paul
and Silas were in prison they were was
singing and they were witnessing and the
Jailer was
listening and the Prison Walls fell down
in an earthquake and it looked like the
prisoners were escaping and the Jailer
drew his sword he was going to kill
himself because he knew the Roman
authorities would kill him the next day
for letting the prisoners
escape and Paul said wait a minute we
haven’t fled we’re still here and the
man fell down in
Terror and he said what must I do to be
saved and you know what the average
person would say to him
while you’re in no emotional state to be
saved wait till you calm
down think about
it let’s let’s let’s meet and talk this
out tomorrow and explain it to
you Paul didn’t do that Paul said
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and
thou shall be saved and thy house just
believe right now here and at that
moment that Philippian Jailer
received Christ was saved and was
forgiven and before the night was over
he was doing social
work because it says that he washed the
backs of the prisoners whom he had
beaten just a few hours
earlier just like that your life can be
changed You Can Be Touched by Christ
tonight and never be the same
again and then thirdly and lastly there
is peace with our fellow men
Jesus said have peace with one another
in other words we had to work for peace
we had to do all that Mr Kissinger has
been
doing but man himself without God will
never bring permanent
peace thousands of Peace treaties have
been signed in the history of the world
and we still have
wars is there going to be a day and a
time when we will have no more
war yes there’s coming a day
listen to what the scripture says and he
shall rule the Nations and they shall
beat their swords into plow shares and
their Spears and de pruning hooks Nation
shall not lift up sword against Nation
neither shall they learn War anymore
Isaiah
2:4 that’s going to
happen war will be eliminated peace will
come and then the scripture says in
another place and in that day I will
make a covenant
for them with the Beast of the field and
the fowls of the heaven and with the
creeping things of the ground and I will
break the bow and The Sword and the
battle of the earth and all will lie
down safely together did you see the
picture the other night on television
how the insects are about to take the
world and there’s a battle right now as
to whether man is going to survive by
2000 ad or whether the insects are going
to survive and we’re at war with the
insect world because they are moving so
fast here Spirit it says those little
creeping things these insects we’re
going to be at peace with the animal
world will be at peace
with you can have a tiger in your living
room just like you have a cat now it’s
going to be a wonderful time there’ll be
no
tears no suffering no hospitals no
armies no
navies no Wars and no
death no graveyards of wonderful Glory
world to
come what will be the government the
United Nations
no
theocracy God
reigning God will be in charge and he
will rule the world the scripture says
with a rod of iron that means with
perfect Justice and perfect love and
perfect
Mercy that’s the
future and I want to tell you tonight
I’ve Stak everything I’ve God ever will
have on the promise of that
word I’m trusting in Jesus Christ and
him alone as my Lord and my savior and
when my moment comes to die if I should
die before he comes I know that there
will be an angel that will come and take
me by the hand and Usher me into the
presence of my Lord and I will be with
him
forever I I know where I’ve come from I
know why I’m here I know where I’m going
and I don’t have any doubts about
it you can have that same peace that
same assurance that same Joy by putting
your confidence and your faith in Jesus
Christ and I’m going to ask you to do it
tonight
how I’m going to ask hundreds of you to
get up out of your seat right now and
come and stand in front of the platform
and make this commitment to Christ
openly
you say well Billy why do we have to
come forward because Jesus
said if you don’t confess me before men
openly I’ll not confess you before my
Father which is in heaven and every
person that he called in the New
Testament he called publicly there was a
reason for it if you’re ashamed of
following Christ then you’re no follower
of his he wants you to come out and be
open
about and I’m going to give you an
opportunity to come out tonight and be
open about it you may be a member of the
best Church in town or you may not be a
member of any church you may be Catholic
Protestant or Jewish or you may not have
any religion but you want to come and
give your heart and your life to him
tonight and you want to make sure about
this thing you want his peace you want
his forgiveness you want to know you’re
going to heaven you want to choose his
side tonight you get up and
come if you’re with friends that have
come in a bus they’ll wait on you
bring your friend with you it’ll only
take two or 3 minutes and after you’ve
come here’s what we’re going to do I’m
going to say a word to you have a prayer
with you give you some literature and
you can go back and join your friends
you get up and come right now if you
come from that top balcony it takes
about a minute longer so get up and come
right now quickly from everywhere and
all of you back here that God has spoken
to and all around you get up and come
we’re going to
wait
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
[Music]
decision
[Music]
God
[Music]
PR
to my
soul
of to
[Music]
the
you that are watching by television can
see here at Texas Tech University
Stadium hundreds of people coming across
this field to make this commitment to
Jesus Christ and to find peace with God
and the peace that passeth all
understanding that peace that purpose
that Joy can be yours wherever you are
in a hotel room in your living room your
bedroom at home you can say yes to
Christ God bless you 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 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 at
877772
4559 that’s
877772
4559 or you can write to us at Billy
Graham 1 Billy Graham Parkway Department
C Charlotte North Carolina
28201 or you can contact us on the web
247 at peacei god.com 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 you’re invited on a journey of
Discovery at the Billy Graham
Library retrace Billy Gram’s path from
Humble Farm Boy to International
ambassador of God’s love through
multimedia photos and memorabilia but
the fruit of the spirit is love that is
a supernatural tour the restored Grand
Family Home Place browse Ruth’s attic
bookstore and have a meal at the Grand
Brothers Dairy Bar enjoy special
exhibits events and seasonal activities
for the whole
family admission is free so come walk
this journey of Discovery at the Billy
Graham
Library