Are you tired of searching for truth? Hear Billy Graham explain how your search ends when you commit your life to Christ in this 1980 sermon from Reno, Nevada. Watch more #MondayNightClassics every Monday at 8 p.m. Eastern. 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

tonight I want you to turn with me to

the 11th chapter of Matthew the 11th

chapter of Matthew

come unto me all ye that Laban a heavy

laden and I will give you rest take my

yoke upon you and learn of me for I meek

and lowly in heart and ye shall find

rest under your souls for my yoke is

he’s in my burden is light I want to

speak tonight on the University of life

I want to speak to young people as well

as older people on the subject of the

University of life now we usually think

of this text that a pastor will take and

use in labor day but that’s wrong in one

sense and yet in another sense it is

correct but this is an invitation to men

and women who are exhausted with the

search for truth Jesus said you’ve been

searching for truth you’re tired

I am the way the truth and the life you

found it the search ends with me

now at this University we’re talking

about tonight you can fail but you can

never drop out all over the world people

are beginning to ask questions about

where civilization is headed one of the

foreign experts left Washington in his

in despair this past summer and went

back to the university to teach and he

was asked why and he said sometimes I

get the feeling I’m sitting on a Hilltop

watching two trains racing toward each

other on the same track

Vice Premier Dunn of China stated

recently this past summer that world war

three is inevitable

an independent of man’s will in this

decade

a British editorial said recently the

world is on a collision course With

Disaster

now when we come back to America and see

the affluence of America

I also read and hear about the new surge

of problems that our fluency has created

psychologists economists clergy

politicians are dealing with social and

moral problems on a scale that they’ve

never had to deal with before for

example the marriage breakups even among

so-called professing Christians some of

them well-known Christians in our

newspapers even today

married women having adulterous Affairs

has tripled in the last five years but

the price they pay is escalating drug

addiction alcoholism and suicide racial

tensions we thought the race problem in

America was settled it’s not settled

look at Miami or Philadelphia this past

summer

the psalmist said and I said oh that I

had wings like a dove for then I would

fly away and rest

have you ever felt that way you’d like

to fly away from life and rest you’d

like to get out of that kitchen and rest

you’d like to get out of that job and

rest you’d like to fly away somewhere

thousands of people out east come to

Nevada and to California thinking that

they’re going to find it here

and they may find something here but

they find wonderful air here in Reno

I’ll tell you that they find beautiful

mountains here

and they find a lot of activity here but

the real thing they’re searching for is

God

because you see they were made in the

image of God and without God their

hearts are restless till they come to

know God you can never find true rest

until you know God and you that are

watching by television if you want to

find peace with God and rest in your own

Souls call that number on your screen

right now and let somebody talk to you

as many people here will do later on in

the evening you see the psalmist longing

to escape has become the Cry of the

world today

the psalmist also said I’m full of

heaviness

and looked for some to take pity but

there was none and for comforters but I

found none

the Bible also says but the eyes of the

wicked will fail and Escape will elude

them their hope will become a dying gasp

No Way Out

Jesus said I am the way out he said

there’s only one way to escape one way

out and I’m it you have to come by the

way of the Cross and the empty tomb and

find reconciliation with God and peace

in your heart and joy in your heart that

you have lost

and how many of you are trying to escape

you’ve come out here from somewhere else

to escape all the rigors of Life

somewhere else but you haven’t really

found it yet

you haven’t found that joy and that

peace that you thought you’d find or

that sense of fulfillment you don’t have

the answer to the questions where did

you come from what is life all about

where are you going when you die you

don’t have those answers yet you can

find it tonight by coming to Jesus

Christ you see Jesus said

learn of me it’s a picture of Jesus

Christ as the great professor

at the University

he’s the greatest teacher that ever was

the Bible says he taught them as one

having Authority he spoke with authority

do you never find Jesus saying I hope

this is the way

I think this is the way the Bible says

there’s a way that seemeth right unto

man but the end thereof are the ways of

death

there are many ways

in life that seem right

but the end is death destruction

judgment and Hell

and Jesus warned about that Jesus said I

am the one

now most of the world would agree that

he’s the greatest teacher that ever

lived

and so tonight I want you to sit for a

few moments at the feet of the world’s

greatest teacher in most American

universities and colleges they have what

is called required courses and elective

courses now in life there are certain

required courses what are they they’re

three three required courses and three

elective courses that I want you to

think about tonight the first required

course is life itself

philosophy means the study of life and

ideas concerning life and one of the

most discussed new books published last

summer was the philosophers in which 20

of the most influential philosophers of

the Western World in modern times are

psychoanalyze as to the amount of

fulfillment that they themselves enjoy

and it’s so demon it demonstrated that

all 20 of them that they studied were

characterized by loneliness and anxiety

you see we did not choose to be born

we were not consulted about living

and there’s nothing you can do to stop

living we did not choose where to be

born we did not choose what color of

skin we have there’s no escaping life

all you say I can commit suicide that

doesn’t get you out of light

you only kill the body

your soul your spirit is eternal it

lives on

so you cannot Escape by Suicide

suicide does not end at all as some

people think

yes you’re required to live

how do you face life what resources do

you have to call upon when the pressures

get great and the crisis comes and the

difficulties come what do you have

to call upon well if you know Jesus

Christ

you don’t have anything to worry about

because when he lives in your heart he

gives great inward peace and joy

and assurance and a sense of safety and

well-being

when you come to Christ it affects you

physically and mentally and socially

every way every phase of your life is

affected when Christ dominates your life

because you let him come his savior as

well as law

and then the second required course that

you have at the University

you’re required to die

now we have been having a lot of studies

on death lately we read about Dr

Kubler-Ross and Dr Rawlings and Dr Moody

and others and courses on paleontology

in our universities are springing up all

over the country teaching people about

death and the classrooms are filled with

students studying debt

George Bernard Shaw said that there’s

one statistic that we can be sure of now

everybody in the gaming business here in

Nevada ought to hear this

their odds against which no Gambler can

win

that one out of every one dies

now that’s a sure thing

God said to Hezekiah thou shall die and

not live the Bible says it’s appointed

unto man wants to die the Bible says

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

die

the number of years is simply a relative

the fact is we all die and the Bible

says there’s a day there’s an hour

there’s a minute already appointed for

your death

it may be tonight

it may be tomorrow morning

there’s a day there’s an hour there’s a

minute already appointed

the Bible says in Job 14 seeing his days

are determined the number of his months

are with thee thouest appointed his

bounds Beyond which he cannot pass

there’s a moment Beyond which you cannot

live already upon

and God is giving you this moment of

Grace right now to find Christ as your

lord and your savior that’s the reason

the Bible always says today today today

Harden not your heart now is the

accepted time of Salvation the Bible is

saying don’t put it all tomorrow is the

devil’s word

come while you can

there’s only one man in history that

didn’t have to die and that was Jesus

Christ

he said no man taketh my life for me but

I lay it down of myself I have power to

lay it down and I have power to take it

again this commandment have I received

of my father he was perfect he was free

from sin and its effects and yet he died

on the cross why

because he died for you

he took the things that caused death in

your life on the cross in your place

he died for you God laid on him the

iniquity of us all

and now tonight you come to that cross

and surrender your life to Jesus Christ

and God says forgiven your sins are

forgiven I forgive you

I write your name in The Book of Life

for he hath made him to be sin for us

whom you knew no sin that we might be

made the righteousness of God in him but

not only did he die he rose again he’s

alive tonight who was delivered for our

offenses and was raised again for our

justification

I haven’t seen the picture the raising

of the Titanic but I’ve read about it

and they’re going to try to raise it

next summer and that’s going to be a

very interesting experiment they’re

doing a similar thing off the coast of

Japan where they found a Russian ship

and they think it may have 30 billion

dollars worth of gold in it and they’re

after that gold

and it’s going to be quite interesting

to see who gets it when they finally get

it all up

and uh

so there is

a great deal of raising going on but the

Bible says there’s coming a time when

there’s going to be a general

Resurrection when all of those that are

lost are going to be raised and all of

those that are saved are going to be

raised and Jesus Christ died on our

account on the cross was raised again

and that is living proof he is living

proof tonight that there’s going to be a

resurrection someday

think of it Jesus Christ came back from

the dead to tell us there’s more

Because He Lives I Can Face Tomorrow

the Bible says The Last Enemy that shall

be destroyed is death

are you ready and then the third thing

in this school

that is required of you the Judgment of

God is required

you’re going to face the judgment

there’s a movie out called the judgment

and someday you’re going to give a moral

accounting

the searching Eyes Of God will miss

nothing in that day when you stand

before him

now the whole country is talking about

who shot J.R

I’ll tell you exactly who did it

a sinner

and someday

all the Ewing family and all the

suspects are going to have to stand

before God

just like you are

and Every Idle word that men shall speak

they shall give account in the day of

judgment the Bible says many shall say

unto me in that day Lord have we not

prophesied in thy name and in thy name

cast out devils and Lord we’ve done all

these great things in your name but the

Bible says God is Jesus is going to say

depart for me I never knew you

you see you can be in the church

last night a number of Catholic people

came forward and Episcopalian people and

people who have confirmation I was

confirmed myself

when I was about 12 years of age in a an

associate Reformed Presbyterian Church

and I know what they meant when they

came they wanted to reconfirm their

confirmation

what had they promised God

in accepting Jesus Christ as their lord

and savior

how many of you tonight need Christ

you need to come to him you’ve been away

from him

you’re in the church your name is on the

Church Road but you really don’t know

Christ more than a third of the people

that have been coming forward here to

receive Christ have no church

connections but nearly two-thirds do

some of them are back east

and they haven’t thought about the

church since they’ve been in Reno are in

Nevada in Northern California or

wherever you may be

come to Christ tonight

and receive him into your heart and

start all over again

now those are the required courses life

itself you cannot be Unborn

you’re required to die you’re required

to face the judgment

now

there are certain options at the

University tonight the University of

light first you can choose your way of

life the Bible says choose you this day

as I said a moment ago there is a way

that seemeth right

now some of those roads that seem right

there’s the lust of the eye the Bible

talks about

possessions

it seems that

to gain all the possessions you can

there’s nothing wrong with that it seems

things are not wrong but when your life

is centered in the acquisition of

physical possessions then the lust of

the eyes has gotten the best of you

and that’s sin and it seems right but

it’s wrong and it leads to a dead end

then there’s the lust of the flesh those

are the physical things which offer by

way of luxury and entertainment some of

us are selling our souls for sinful

pleasure

overeating the wrong use of sex

excessive use of alcohol all of these

things

the scripture says the world passeth

away and the lust thereof but he that

doeth the will of God abide in Forever

then there’s also the pride of life

that seems right

ego position

getting the best

self-interest

but that’s a wrong road

we ought to think something of ourselves

we’re to love our neighbor as ourselves

we are to love ourselves because you

cannot love your neighbor you cannot be

a true Christian without having a

respect for yourself

and as a certain love of self but not

this ego-centric thing because the very

heart of sin is selfishness the very

heart of sin is ego and when you come to

Christ your ego has to be surrendered to

Christ until he becomes Lord

and then secondly

not only can you choose your way of life

but you can choose who will be the

master of your life what’s going to

master your life what philosophy are you

giving your life to

what group are you giving your life to

who is going to control you are you

going to control your own life

and make a wreck of it thou shall

confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus

and believe in thine heart that God hath

raised him from the dead thou shall be

saved by Nature we want to run our own

lives we think we know better than even

God knows

but God has a plan for your life and his

plan is perfect

for every young person here God has a

plan

he has the right person picked out for

you to marry if you’d only trust him to

help you

he has the right job for you the right

vocation for you it’s all planned if

you’ll say Lord thy will be done and you

surrender to him and let him become

involved in all the Affairs of your life

or some of you that are already married

or maybe you’re older now

and your life is all messed up

did you know that God can rearrange your

life after you’ve messed it up by

forgiving your sin now he can’t take

those scars away of sin I’ve watched

people come forward here and I’ve seen

many of them as they stood in front of

this platform night after night I’ve

seen them with sin scarred faces

because sin leaves its mark

but God can forgive all that and he can

take all that mess that you’ve made in

your life and straighten it all out and

get you back on the right road if you’ll

trust him

you say well bill I suppose I’ve been

divorced in my

remarried and my life is all what what

will happen

well you can’t unscramble eggs

but you can start from where you are by

trusting Christ Where You Are

he’ll forgive the past and give you a

whole new spiritual life and give you a

power beyond anything you ever dreamed

and a love and a joy and a peace don’t

let the devil worry you about past sins

once you’ve been to the cross

if your son asks for bread will you give

him a snake

no God loves you he has a plan for you

and you ask for something good he’s not

going to give you a snake

says the scripture said Jesus

the Rich Young Ruler the problem with

him was not his wealth but he wanted to

control his own life and many of you

want to control your own life you see we

want to run our own lives suppose I’d go

up in The Airliner and tell the pilot I

want to Pilot This Plane I’ve never

piled to the plane in my life

I can take over from you

no

God says get up out of that seat you’re

making a wreck of your life you’re

heading toward destruction

let me take the controls of your life

I’ve been over the road before

let me help you

and then lastly you can choose your own

destination the destination is Heaven or

Hell the Bible says why it is the gate

in Broad is the way that leadeth to

destruction Narrows the gate in hard is

the way which lead it unto life

what are we to do

what can you do tonight

to make your peace with God

the Bible says prepare to meet God well

how do you prepare

first by repentance repentance means

that you’re willing to let God change

your life

it means that you change your mind so

much

that it changes the way you live

and you’re willing to give up all those

things that are sinful in your life

and turn over to Jesus Christ

your life

the second thing you come by faith

by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and

thou shall be saved says the Bible just

believe you say Well there must be a cat

somewhere there is that word believe

means that you put your total confidence

in

you don’t put your confidence in your

own work you don’t put your confidence

in anything but the person of Jesus

Christ who died on the cross for you

you cannot work your way you cannot pay

your way you come by simple childlike

faith

and then the third thing you must be

willing to be a disciple or a follower

of Christ

earlier in the year it was my privilege

to hold a 10-day mission

at Cambridge University in England as

well as Oxford University

and I could not help but remember

that young man at Cambridge

who made this statement when he gave his

life to Christ he was the son of a very

wealthy man and he was one of the

greatest cricketers

that

Cambridge has ever had he said if Jesus

Christ be God and died for me then no

sacrifice that I can make for him can be

too great that was CT stud

who said that

and he went out as a missionary with the

Cambridge seven that started a whole

missionary movement at the end of the

last century

Jim Elliott who was killed by the Orca

Indians in South America as a young

student wrote this

he is no fool who gives up what he

cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose

I ask you young and older like tonight

do you know Christ

is he your lord and your savior in a few

moments I’m going to ask you to do

something very difficult

I’m going to ask you to get up out of

your seat and come and stand in front of

this platform as we saw over 500 last

night do

and stand here and say by coming

symbolically I open my heart to Christ I

want him to forgive my sins and change

my life I want to know where I’m going

I want to know what life is all about

and I want fulfillment in my life

I ask you to come publicly because every

person Jesus called in the Bible he

called publicly

I ask you to come publicly because

there’s a psychological and a Biblical

reason

for you to come

you stand here a moment and after you’ve

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

have a prayer with all of you and then

give you some literature to help you in

your Christian Life there’s something

about coming forward like that that

settles it and seals it you that are in

the other Auditorium where we were a

moment ago where thousands of people are

gathered you come forward in your

Auditorium where you are Grady Wilson

will be there to say a word and to help

you and many counselors are there as

well

and then you that are watching by

television you pick up the phone right

now and call the number on your screen

don’t let this moment pass because there

may never be another moment quite like

this in your life when you’re so close

to the kingdom of God and all it needs

is a is a phone call to talk to someone

and then if you don’t get through

immediately

wait a moment or two and call again wait

five minutes or ten minutes call again

but don’t let this night pass those

people some of them will be there for

several hours to answer your phone

you get up and come right here as people

are making their decisions here and in

the other Auditorium and all over

America right now you join them and come

and stand here and say yes to Christ

we’re going to wait on you you may be in

the choir you may be

our leader in the church or you may not

have any church connections whoever you

are God has spoken to you get up and

come we’re going to wait on

[Music]

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]

oh

you that are watching by television can

see that many scores of people I suppose

hundreds of people are coming to make

this commitment here in Reno Nevada

you can make that same commitment right

now where you are

just pick up the phone and call that

number that’s on your screen

and have a talk with that counselor and

tell them what you want to do or make

the decision right where you are maybe

your circumstances are such you cannot

call right now

all right make your commitment now value

ahead and say Lord Jesus Come into my

heart I receive you as my Lord and

Savior

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 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.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

[Music]

hear the sound of a brand new day

witness the story

[Music]

Graham Library