Jesus is different than everyone who’s walked on this earth. In this 2001 message from Nashville, Tennessee, Billy Graham explains who Christ was—and that He’s still alive today. Watch more #MondayNightClassics every Monday at 8 p.m. Eastern.
From our archives,
The Billy Graham Classics.
Now before the message here’s
a song from George Beverly Shea.
♪
(Crusade Choir)
♪ How great Thou art. ♪
♪ How great Thou art. ♪
(George Bevery Shea)
♪ O Lord my God ♪
♪ When I in awesome wonder ♪
♪ Consider all the worlds
Thy Hands have made ♪
♪ I see the stars,
I hear the rolling thunder ♪
♪ Thy power throughout
the universe displayed ♪
♪ [Choir] Then sings my soul
My Saviour God to Thee ♪
♪ How great Thou art,
How great Thou art. ♪
♪ Then sings my soul
My Saviour God to Thee ♪
♪ How great Thou art,
How great Thou art ♪
♪ And when I think, that God,
His Son not sparing; ♪
♪ Sent Him to die,
I scarce can take it in; ♪
♪ That on the cross,
my burden gladly bearing, ♪
♪ He bled and died
to take away my sin. ♪
(George Beverly Shea and Choir)
♪ Then sings my soul, ♪
♪ My Saviour God to Thee ♪
♪ How great Thou art,
How great Thou art ♪
♪ Then sings my soul,
My Saviour God to Thee ♪
♪ How great Thou art ♪
♪ How great Thou art. ♪
♪♪
(applause)
Tonight, I want to talk
about Jesus Christ.
I want to ask the question,
who is Jesus?
Many of us have crosses
embossed on our Bibles
or carrying
around our neck,
but we don’t really
know Jesus.
You know when you fly into
Brazil, into Rio de Janeiro,
there’s a great big statue
of Jesus.
It’s a landmark of Rio
day and night.
It stands
a hundred and thirty feet high.
It’s a hundred and thirty feet
from fingertip to fingertip
with his arms outstretched.
Someone has called this, in this
country, the year of Jesus.
One of the networks recently ran
a mini-series on Jesus.
My daughter has written a book
called “Just Give Me Jesus”.
There is a movement
among teenagers
that asks the question,
“What would Jesus do?”
Almost everybody has
heard of Jesus,
but millions really don’t know
who he is.
They don’t have him in
their lives and in their hearts.
And the world today is looking
for Messiah to come and save us.
Many years ago,
the prophet Ezekiel said,
“I searched for a man among
them, but I found none.”
In other words, God was
searching for someone that
he could put his hand on
and bless and use
and he couldn’t find
anybody that was willing
to totally surrender and commit
their lives to him.
The world today,
if you read the newspapers
and watch the telecasts,
the news telecasts,
is rushing madly toward,
I think, Armageddon.
Tonight, in the Middle East,
they’re battling again
over the same things they‘ve
battled for hundreds of years.
They’ve had meeting after
meeting and truce after truce
and treaty after treaty and
promised made by all around
but somehow, they can’t
quit their fighting.
You see,
man is a moral failure.
God is our only hope.
God’s plans,
(applause)
God’s plans are already formed
and are clearly stated
in the Scriptures.
And at His right hand, in
heaven, sits a man who was
despised and ignored
and rejected by men
when he came to earth
the first time.
And who is still rejected
and ignored
by the majority of
the human race.
God has pledged that He will be
the future world ruler.
He will put down all rule
and all authority and power.
There is coming a day when
every knee will bow to him
and every tongue will
confess his name.
This year, 2000 A.D.,
the calendar we use each day
dates back to
the birth of Jesus.
We can’t get away from him.
Our generation cannot
escape Jesus.
Over the years so many plays and
books and operas and movies
have been made about Jesus.
In March and April,
both Newsweek and U.S. News
and World Report magazines
had cover stories about him.
In its science and ideas
cover story,
U.S. News carried the title,
“Why did Jesus die?”
Why is there so much interest
in Jesus today?
Is that the question
you’ve asked?
Who is this person who has done
so much
to transform human history
than any man that ever lived?
He only lived 33 years.
His longest journey was
less than a hundred miles.
Is He just a folk hero
or a revolutionary
or is He who
He claimed to be,
the Son of
the living God?
Who is this person that demands
that we call him Son of God and
follow him even to death?
We know he was a man.
He was completely human,
he was the representative man,
he was the all-out man.
He was identified and numbered
with the transgressors
the Scripture says.
Eighty-three times
in the New Testament
he’s called
the son of man.
There are many places in
the scriptures where
we’re reminded of
his humanity.
The Bible teaches that
he was hungry.
The Bible teaches that
he was tired.
In the back of a boat
he was asleep.
He knew the joys of friendship.
He was misunderstood
and despised.
He wept at the tomb
of a loved one.
He had to fight temptation
and endure disappointment.
He claimed to be
the unique Son of God.
Before the world ever was
or before the human race
ever existed, he said,
“In the beginning was the Word
and the Word was with God and
“the Word was God.”
And Jesus said,
“Before Abraham was, I am.”
With these words Jesus set
himself aside
from every other person
who ever lived.
In other words, Jesus said
before Abraham was born
I always am.
The eternal present.
There is no past with Jesus and
there is no future with Jesus.
It’s all in the ever present.
And he’s speaking
to you tonight.
And he’s speaking to all of us
collectively and individually.
In Colossians 1 it says, “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
hold together.”
This whole stadium would fly
to pieces were not for the fact
that he is the thing
that holds it together.
Peter’s statement
in Matthew 16:16,
“Thou art the Christ,
the Son of the living God.”
When he came at Bethlehem
that was not his birth
or his beginning.
He had already existed.
That was his incarnation.
When Jesus came to Bethlehem
it wasn’t the place
of his origin.
It was his incarnation.
“And the Word was made flesh,
and dwelt among us.”
You know it’s interestng
to me that
Jesus never
apologized for sin.
He challenged others to prove
any error in his thinking,
or in anything that
he ever did.
How do we explain Jesus
from every other individual
that ever lived?
How do we explain Jesus from
every other person?
What is the basic cause of
hate and greed and
lust and war today?
And racial injustice and
racial division?
Jeremiah gave the answer,
“The heart is deceitful
above all things
“and desperately wicked;
who can know it?”
King David said, “In sin did
my mother conceive me.”
“I was born in sin,” said David.
He said, “I was shapen in
iniquity.”
The Bible says in Matthew 15,
“For out of the heart proceed
“evil thoughts, murders,
adulteries, fornications,
“thefts, false witness,
and blasphemies.”
I think we need to do
something about guns,
but that’s not
the real problem.
The real deep problem is
in our hearts.
For out of the heart proceed
evil thoughts
and murders and adulteries
and thefts and blasphemies.
All of these things come from
the heart of men and women.
How do you explain Jesus?
His authority.
No one ever spoke as this man
spoke, says John 7.
He forgave sin.
No other prophet had ever
forgiven sin.
Mohammed didn’t attempt that.
Buddha didn’t do that.
No one else in history has ever
said, “Your sins are forgiven.”
He also had
authority over nature.
When the sea was boiling and
the storm was raging
he just held up his hand
and said, “Peace, be still.”
and the sea quieted down
and the storm stopped.
He had authority over disease.
Every sick person who ever came
to him by faith and he touched,
he healed.
But what about his death?
Different than any other person
that ever was.
You see, Jesus was executed.
He was a criminal.
He took our sins.
He became sin for us,
who knew no sin.
Can you imagine a person being
the embodiment of sin?
That’s what Jesus was
on the cross.
Isaiah 53 says,
“God hath laid on him
the iniquity of us all.”
In 1 Peter 2:24 it says,
“Who his own self bare our sins
in his body on the tree.”
Micah says that
all of our sins are cast
into the depths of the sea.
I was reading today about
that lake in Russia
that is the deepest water
in the whole world.
Thousands of feet down.
Our sins are buried in
the depths of the sea,
the scripture says, because of
what Christ did on the cross.
He became sin for us.
He was executed for you.
He took your judgement
and your hell.
You won’t ever
have to go to hell.
You don’t ever have to go before
the great white throne judgement
if you are in Christ.
But everybody else will.
The Bible says that
there’s coming a day when
he is going to judge
the whole world
and you will stand before God
at the great judgement,
hundreds of you that
are here tonight,
and you won’t stand with
a great crowd like this tonight.
You say, oh, we’ll have a good
time when we get there.
No. You’ll be alone.
You’re going to stand
before God alone
and give an account of what
you did with Jesus,
and how you lived your life.
And many of us are going to be
terribly disappointed.
And we’re going to scream
for mercy,
but it’s going to be
too late.
The Bible says we’ll call for
the rocks and mountains to fall
on top of us and hide us from
Him that sits on the throne,
but we can’t.
The crucifiction of Christ is
a stubbling block
to many people, because it’s
foolishness, the Bible says,
to those that perish.
Many will accept
the teaching of Christ
when he says
love everybody,
but they stop
at the cross.
At the cross is where
you have to come
before you can
really know him.
And you have to confess
that you’re a sinner,
and you have to repent
from sin.
And the word repentence means
that you turn, that you change.
You’re going one direction
in your life
and you’re willing
to go another.
You say, but Billy,
I don’t have that ability.
I’ve tried to change.
I’ve tried to do better,
but I can’t.
No, you can’t.
But God will help you if
you submit to him and say,
Lord, I need your help.
I need your help
even to repent.
I need your help even
to have faith to believe.
The kind of faith
that I must have.
What about you?
And then there’s
his resurrection.
The Bible says
they took him out
and they burried him
after his death
but on the third day
he rose again.
And he’s alive tonight.
(applause)
When some of the disciples went
out to the tomb
where he was buried
there were two men there,
two angels that said,
“Why do you seek the living
among the dead?
“He’s not here.
He is risen.”
Jesus is alive
and the thing which inspired
the disciples to go to
the whole world
with the gospel,
is the resurrection.
We’re talking about a living
Christ that can come into
your life and heart today
and change you,
and change your family
and change your neighborhood
and change Nashville
and change middle Tennessee
and change all of
the whole country
if we’ll let him.
(applause)
The Bible says that,
“If thou shalt confess with
thy mouth the Lord Jesus
“and believe in thine heart
“that God hath raised
him from the dead,
we shall be saved.”
You have to believe
not only that he died
but that he rose again.
That’s one half of it.
One half is that you repent.
You come and say,
“O Lord, I am a sinner.
I’m sorry
that I’ve sinned.
Please forgive me
and help me to change.
But then, you have
to live the life,
and there the resurrected Christ
is there through the Holy Spirit
to help you live the life
after you’ve come to Christ.
If Christ is not risen,
then he’s not God,
and the tremendous force
in history is unexplained.
The apostle Paul,
on the road to Damascus,
was persecuting Christians
and killing Christians.
He hated Jesus.
And one day, there was
a blinding light,
and he fell down
on his knees
and he knew
it was Jesus.
And he said,
“Who art thou, Lord?”
in Acts the 9th chapter.
And this is the question
you must answer.
Who is Jesus?
That’s the question
of our generation.
Who is Jesus?
If Jesus claimed to be God,
knowing that he was not,
he was a deceiver.
If he thought that he was God
and didn’t know the difference
then he was a maniac.
Jesus was whom
he claimed to be.
God manifested
in the flesh.
Think of it.
The mighty God that created
the stars and those planets
and this whole universe
and holds it all together.
He is the one that
wants to come into
your life and your heart
tonight in a new way.
Oh, you might be
a member of the church.
You might have been confirmed
and baptized and all the rest,
but deep down inside
you’re just not sure,
you’re not certain that
you’re ready to meet God.
You’re not certain that
you’ll escape that
great judgement.
You must face the question
that Pilate asked.
“What shall I do then with Jesus
which is called Christ?”
Pilate washed his hands.
Tonight you can
wash your hands
and leave and leave this stadium
and go back to the old life and
nothing has happened.
But Paul was fearful.
He was trembling.
He was astonished,
He was amazed.
But he asked
the right question.
“Lord, what wilt
thou have me to do?”
And Jesus said unto him,
“Arise and go.”
And that’s what Jesus is
saying to you tonight,
up in those stands and
down here on this lower stand.
Arise and go.
Get up out of your seat and
make a new commitment to Jesus,
and make certain that
your sins are forgiven.
You see this may be
the only chance
you’ll ever have
the rest of your life,
is tonight.
You may not be able to come back
to these meetings this week.
You may never have another
moment quite like this
when the Holy Spirit has spoken
to you as He’s speaking tonight.
And Jesus says
in Revelation 3:20
“Behold, I stand at the door
and knock.
“If any man hear my voice,
and open the door,
“I will come in to him,
and fellowship with him.”
Jesus is knocking at
your hearts’ door tonight.
He wants to come
into your heart.
He wants to change
your life.
He wants to have an impact
in your community
and in your family
and in your life.
He wants to give you
peace and joy
that you’ve never known before.
He wants to forgive
all your sins
and he wants
to give you assurance
that if you died tonight
you’d go to heaven.
You can have that assurance
tonight before you leave here.
And I’m gong to ask you
to do something
that may be very difficult
for you to do.
But when Jesus died
on that cross,
He was dying for you,
because He loved you,
and He’s asking you
to open your heart
to Him tonight.
And if there’s a doubt
in your life
about your relationship
to Christ
you get up out of your seat
right now
and come and
stand in front here
on this beautiful stadium floor
that they’ve put down.
If you’re with friends or
relatives, they’ll wait on you.
And come and stand here.
I’m going to say
a word to you,
and have a prayer
with all of you,
and give you some literature
to help you in your life
in the week to come.
You get up and come right now.
Men and women, young people,
hundreds of you.
Just get up and come
and stand here.
That’s all.
By that act,
you’re saying to God,
“I do open my heart to Jesus who
died for me and rose again
“and whose alive tonight.
“And he’s knocking
at my heart’s door
“I can sense it.”
You get up and you come.
We’re going to wait on you
right now.
If you’ve come with a group,
they’ll wait on you.
If you’ve come in a bus,
they’ll wait.
There’s plenty of time.
This is the most important
moment in your life.
Don’t miss it.
Quickly from up
in the top stands,
you get up and come.
It will take you
a little time.
It will take you
4 or 5 minutes, so come.
We’re going to be here
to pray with you,
and talk with you,
and to help you.
♪ Just as I am
without one plea ♪
♪ But that Thy blood
was shed for me. ♪
♪ And that Thou bidst me
come to Thee ♪
♪ O Lamb of God,
I come, I come. ♪
Now while you’re still coming,
I want to say a word to
all of you that will be
watching by television.
You can make your commitment
where you are.
Wherever you are.
You may be
at home.
You may be
in a hotel room.
I don’t know where you are,
but God is speaking to you.
You make your commitment.
Or you can call that number
you see on your screen.
There’s somebody ready
to talk to you right now,
and have a prayer with you,
and we’ll send you
the same literature
we’re going to give to
people here tonight.
You can make
your commitment.
You make it now.
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.
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 Graham’s path
from humble farm boy
to international ambassador
of God’s love,
through multi-media,
photos and memorabilia.
But the fruit of
the Spirit is love.
Tour the restored
Graham family home place
Browse Ruth’s Attic Bookstore,
and have a meal at the
Graham Brother’s Dairy Barn.
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.
(Billy Graham) We are to wait
for the coming of Christ
with patience, patience,
patiece, patience.
We are to watch
with antifipation.
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?