How to Get to Heaven | Billy Graham Classic Sermon

from our archives the Billy Graham

classics tonight I hope you have your

Bibles with you I’ve been asking you to

bring your Bibles because we’re

here to see what the Bible has to say

about your problems and my problems and

the nation’s problems and the world’s

problems not what someone else has to

say but what does God have to say and I

want you to return with me to the second

chapter of John’s gospel the second

chapter of John’s

gospel in the 23rd verse Jesus said all

the scripture says now when he was in

Jerusalem at the Passover in the feast

days many believed in his name when they

saw the Miracles which he did but Jesus

did not commit himself unto them because

he knew all

men and needed not that any should

should testify of man for he knew what

was in

man there was a man of the Pharisees

named Nicodemus a ruler of the Jews the

same came to Jesus by night and said

unto him Rabbi we know that thou are a

teacher come from God for no man can do

these Miracles that you do except God be

with

him and Jesus answered and said unto him

verily verily I say unto thee except a

man be born again he cannot see the

kingdom of

God I remember the first day that I ever

went to

school I was scared to death we had to

walk to school in those days about two

or three

miles and walk back in the afternoon

after the school was finished and my

mother had fixed me a little lunch to

take and eat at lunchtime all the recess

time no one told me that there were two

recesses so they had one recess about

10: or 10:30 for us to go out and

stretch ourselves a little bit and so I

ate my lunch very quickly at that time

well when the real lunchtime came at

12:30 I had nothing to

eat and I’ll never forget that day as

long as I live I got on the bus the

wrong way or some or this was four years

later I got on the bus the wrong way and

the principal came out and he grabbed my

ear and I think part of it is still

gone but sometime ago Bill hibl said in

one of his sermons that there are so

many changes happening rapidly that we

don’t even realize how many of them are

affecting us he said that this is an era

of information

overload you and I have access to more

information data facts and news and

knowledge than anybody in history and

the information in the world is doubling

every five years and then we get

information through magazines and

newspapers we’re

told that we forget up to 80% of it in

24

hours and virtually all of us will be

forgotten but the time we reach

eternity Nicodemus the man that we were

just reading about in the Bible was a

great religious

leader and he came by

night he probably was afraid of

criticism or he had a desire for a

private conversation with Jesus and

maybe that was the only time Jesus could

give

him or maybe he thought about committing

himself in a new way many of you have

thought a long time about religion and

Christianity we’re living in a

revolutionary and changing World man’s

ability is man’s moral abilities lagging

behind his technological ability and it

could mean disaster and catastrophe for

the whole human race and many people

have a feeling that something is about

to happen I’m ask more questions

wherever I go today about the end of the

world than I ever have in all of my

Ministry put together people look at our

world with all the

crime and all the headlines screaming at

us about the

killings and we see the moral depravity

on so much of our

entertainment and we ask ourselves are

we nearing the end are we living in the

days of Noah as Jesus predicted would

come

someday I heard about a drunk in

London he was under a street light and

he was looking for his wallet that he

had

lost and somebody came by and said did

you lose it here he said no about a half

block back well why don’t you look there

there’s no street lights back there he

said searching is important searching

for purpose and meaning is very

important do you have purpose and

meaning in your life I told many times

about the 10-year-old

boy who went to his mother and said

mother how was I born and she said the

stor brought

you then he went to his grandmother and

said Grandmother how were you born said

the stalk brought

me said how was my mother born well the

stalk brought

her and he was to write a little paper

in his class on birth and he wrote in

his paper and said there hasn’t been a

natural birth in our family in three

generations

now Nicodemus was

surprised and stunned when Jesus turned

to him and said Nicodemus you must be

born again if Christ had said that to

zakus who was cheating the people out of

money you could understand that or the

woman at the well who had had five

husbands you could understand it all the

thief on the cross who was guilty of

robbery and mugging and all kinds of

things who begged je who said to Jesus

Lord remember me when you come into your

kingdom or the woman taken in

adultery but to say it to a religious

leader like Nicodemus surprised

everybody you see Nicodemus was a ruler

he was rich he was religious and yet he

was searching for reality and that’s why

he was there he wanted fulfillment in

his life which he hadn’t found in all of

his

religion let me tell you how religious

Nicodemus was and see how you stack up

he fasted two days a

week he spent two hours every day in

prayer he tithed all of his

income he was a professor of

theology he worked hard at his

religion but Jesus said

Nicodemus all that is not

enough you must be born

again why did Jesus say this Jesus could

see in his heart he could see that he

had all this outside religious

experience he had all the traditions of

religion like fiddle on the Roof

Tradition tradition tradition

is what he’s saying and we have

traditions in our church and all the

churches we have traditions and we stick

to those Traditions but all of it’s not

enough Jesus said you must have a

personal experience with

God you must come to know me as your

lord and your savior personally you

can’t depend on your Traditions you

can’t depend on your

family Jesus said to Nicodemus Nicodemus

all your religion is not not

enough why the little boy put his finger

on it when he said I guess I was just

born wrong yes the Bible says in sin did

my mother conceive me I was born in

iniquity what causes

lying cheating hate Prejudice greed

Injustice selfishness

cruelty racial

tensions what causes it what causes

perversion Jesus

said the

heart he said but those things which

proceed out of the mouth come forth from

the heart and they defile a

person they’re in our hearts we were

born with that tendency to sin and is we

grow older we make choices to sin so we

become Sinners by choice

and then we become Sinners by practice

we practice this sin it’s a

disease worse than cancer worse than

AIDS and the whole world is

infected and you may live to be 70 or 80

or 90 or 100 years of

age but your

spirit your soul that part part of you

that will live forever either in heaven

or hell that part of

you is

dead dead toward

God and it’s

sinful and that’s the reason you need

forgiveness that’s the reason you need

for God to come along and justify you

you did you know that tonight before you

leave here you could be justified before

God just as though you had never

committed a sin that’s what the cross is

all about that’s what the resurrection

is all about that’s what the blood of

Christ is all

about Jesus came to give himself to you

because he loves you and when he died on

that cross God laid all of our sins on

him he became guilty of murder of lying

of adultery of greed all the sins that

you and I have were laid on him

he voluntarily did it because he loves

you God loves

you there are many words used in the New

Testament for sin I’m not going to try

to use them

all one of them is turning aside from a

straight path all we like sheep have

gone astray we’ve turned everyone to his

own way said

Isaiah in Romans 5 it says wherefore as

by one man sin entered into the worth

world and death by sin and so death

passed upon all men for all have

sinned thus a radical change must take

place before you can get into heaven

before you can be accepted by God and

that change can take place

tonight to find true or real fulfillment

even in this life that change must take

place to be acceptable to God that

change must take place now what is this

New Birth when Jesus said you must be

born again Nicodemus asked that question

he said how can a man be born again when

he’s old can he enter his mother’s womb

and be born

again he wanted to

understand Jesus indicated the Bible

indicates that we will never understand

all these

things we’ll never understand all the

mysteries of God God we come by

faith Nicodemus could only see the

physical and the material and Jesus was

speaking of the spiritual when Jesus

said you must be born again he didn’t

mean that you’re going to inherit it you

don’t inherit salvation from your father

and mother the scripture says in John

1:12 which were born not of blood nor of

the will of the flesh nor of the will of

man but of

God I could be born in a garage with but

that doesn’t make me an

automobile you can be born in a

Christian home but that doesn’t make you

a Christian there has to come a time in

your own life when you make your own

decision and your own

choice and then some people think they

can come by their own works by being by

doing many good things and great things

that’s wonderful keep doing

them but that doesn’t save your

soul it’s a result of your

salvation in Titus 3:5 it says not of

works of righteousness which we have

done but according to his Mercy he saved

us you are saved by the grace of God now

Grace means unmar favor Grace means

something you don’t deserve you can’t

work for it you can’t pay for it it’s a

gift from

God have you received that gift you

receive that gift by faith and he comes

into your heart and changes you and you

become born a new you see man sinned in

a perfect environment we had it

all Adam and Eve had

everything they didn’t even need to have

police forces they didn’t need to have

government they didn’t need anything

because they had it

all but they rebelled against God they

sinned against God and they passed it on

down from generation to generation down

to you and me till we are all

sinners not to be born

again means being born into God’s family

in Ezekiel it says a new heart also will

I give you and a new spirit will I put

within you in Romans Paul speaks of it

as being alive from the the dead in 2

Corinthians he calls it being a new

creation old things have passed away

behold All Things become new has that

happened to you Peter

said we become partakers of the divine

nature how wonderful to become a

partaker of God’s very nature John calls

it passing from death into life you’re

no longer heading for death and

destruction and hell and judgment

you’re heading for a new life an eternal

life with God in heaven and you receive

it

tonight well how is this new birth

accomplished there’s a mystery to it the

Bible says Jesus said the wind blows

where it

listed I can’t see the

wind I can feel

it I can see the results of the Wind

but I can’t see the wind the wind blows

where it wants to and then there’s the

analogy to natural birth there’s

conception just a few seconds when the

sperm and the Egg are joined

together and then there’s gestation for

9

months then birth

comes and and the labor last a few

minutes

or maybe a few

days and how does

that become an analogy to the New Birth

well does the reception of the word of

God that’s

conception 1 Peter 1:23 being born again

not of corruptible seed but of

Incorruptible by the word of God which

liveth and abideth

forever and then Romans 10:7 says faith

cometh by hearing and hearing by the

word of God

it pleased God by the foolishness of

preaching or Declaration or proclamation

to save them that

believe it’s also the work of the Holy

Spirit the Bible teaches that the Holy

Spirit

convicts us of our sins you can’t come

to Christ except the Holy Spirit convict

you and draws

you John 16 says and when he has come he

will reprove the world of sin and

righteousness and judgment he’ll use a

mother’s prayers he’ll use a tragic

experience he’ll use a pastor’s sermon

he’ll use a tract or something you’ve

read out of the

Bible the holy spirit gives New Life the

Bible teaches that we’re dead in sin and

you hath he made alive who were dead in

trespasses and in sins man needs new

life and that new new life is brought by

the Holy Spirit that’s the new birth and

that could happen to you tonight you can

leave here born a new and start life all

over again with Jesus Christ being born

from

above and then the Bible teaches that

when you receive Christ the Holy Spirit

comes to

indwell he dwelleth with you and shall

be in you the scripture says know you

not that your body is the Temple of the

Holy Spirit and the spirit of God that

dwelleth in you he gives you a new power

but you shall receive power after that

the Holy Spirit has come upon

you that power can come from God tonight

beginning

tonight I read of a woman who tried her

drive’s test for the 38th time and

failed in

England perhaps you’ve tried nearly that

many times in religion but you haven’t

found it you still searching you’re

still wondering you’re still uncertain

about the future you’re not absolutely

sure oh you’ve been baptized and

confirmed perhaps and you’ve been in the

church or maybe you’re a leader in the

church but something is missing there’s

still a vacuum there there’s still a

search there there’s still an

uncertainty

there I’m asking you tonight to move

over and Trust the Holy Spirit to drive

and control your

life you can do that tonight and I’m

going to ask you to do it you say well

what do I have to do there are three

things that are important for you to do

first you must repent of

sin repentance means that you change

your way of living and change your

thinking be willing for a change to take

place in your

life the second thing by faith and faith

and repentance go together there’s no

dichotomy they they go

together you repent and you believe

believe in Christ you don’t believe in

anything else for your salvation except

the Lord Jesus Christ and you receive

him in your heart and say Lord Jesus

come in and he’ll come

in then the third thing is to obey him

say Lord I know I can’t live the

Christian Life and Billy Graham can’t

live the Christian Life and I can’t

if I didn’t have the help of the Holy

Spirit every day I would be a total

failure every day as far as living the

Christian Life I’m a fail you a great

deal of the time as it is but it’s the

holy spirit that comes and lives through

you and in you and gives you a power to

resist temptation that you never had

before and gives you a new joy and a new

peace that you never knew existed that

can all be yours tonight

if you’re willing to say Lord I do

repent I do receive

you I open my heart to

you I’m going to ask you to do what

we’ve already seen hundreds of people do

I’m going to ask you to get up out of

your seat from up here and out there way

back in the back and over here back

there and come and stand in front and

say by coming I do receive him

I am willing to repent of my sins I want

there to be a change I want to know that

I’ve been saved I’m not sure where I am

now but I want to know you get up and

come we’re going to wait on you and

going to ask people to be in prayer for

those that are making those commitments

now ask nobody to leave now this is the

holy moment of the service just very

quietly

let the people come that God is speaking

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to

for

me

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and

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to

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PR

to my

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soul

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to

just as hundreds here have responded to

the invitation so can you wherever you

are just call the number on your screen

right now special friends want to help

you with the most important decision you

can ever make so don’t wait call

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now

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to of

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God I want to say a word to you that

might have been watching by television

we’re not on television

live this may be

shown several weeks or several months

from

now but you have participated in this

service you’ve heard the message you’ve

heard the music you’ve heard the

testimony and God has spoken to you and

you would like to give your life to

Christ tonight and make sure of your

relationship to him I’m going to ask you

to pick up the telephone and call that

number that you may see on your screen

most cities will have it may God help

you to make that commitment

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tonight there’s still time to make that

important decision just call the number

on the screen or write that letter

tonight to Mr Graham someone is waiting

to pray and talk with you and help you

don’t put it off call

now 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 45

559 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 peacewithgod.net

istic Association thank you for watching

and thank you for your

prayers we still have a window of

opportunity to reach a lost and Dying

World with the truth of God’s

love it’s not too late we’ve got an

opportunity to tell others about Jesus

Christ what are you going to do with

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it