Obstacles to Heaven | Billy Graham Classic Sermon

FROM OUR ARCHIVES…

THE BILLY GRAHAM CLASSICS.

(applause)

Well, this has been
a marvelous evening and

I would like to welcome those
that have joined by television

tonight in various parts
of the country

and in other parts
of the world.

Now tonight I would like you to
turn with me to

the nineteenth chapater of Luke.

Luke, the nineteenth chapter and
a very simple little story

that many of you have heard
since childhood.

I’ll read it to you.

The nineteenth chapter,
the first ten verses,

if you have your Bibles,
and I hope you do.

“And Jesus entered and
passed through Jericho

“And, behold, there was a man
named Zacchaeus,

“which was chief among the
publicans, and he was very rich.

“And this man sought to see
Jesus who he was;

“but could not
for the press,

“because he was
little of stature.

“and he ran before, and climbed
up into a sycomore tree

to see him for he was to pass
that way.

“And when Jesus came
to the place, he looked up,

“and saw him,
and said unto him,

“Zacchaeus, make haste,
and come down;

“for today I must abide
at thy house.

“And he made haste, and came
down, and received him joyfully.

“and when they saw it,
they all murmured, saying,

“That he has gone to be guest
with a man that is a sinner.

“And Zacchaeus stood,
and said unto the Lord,

“Behold, Lord, the half of
my goods I give to the poor;

“and if I have taken any thing
from any many

by false accusation,
I will restore him fourfold.

And Jesus said unto him,

“This day is salvation come
to this house,

“forsomuch as he also is
a son of Abraham.

“For the Son of man is come
to seek and to save

“that which was lost.”

And that’s one of the key verses
in all the New Testament,

that tenth verse,

because it gives you the purpose
of the coming of Jesus Christ.

He’s come to seek and to save
that which is lost.

But here is this man, Jesus,
God-man,

walking through Jericho.

He’s on his way to die
on the cross.

And as he comes into Jericho
he sees blind Bartimaeus

and he heals him

and has that tremendous
experience

where Bartimaeus was saying,
“Help the blind, help the blind,

“help the blind.”

And as Jesus passed by

he cried out saying who is this
passing by

and somebody stopped and said,
“Jesus of Nazareth passeth by.”

And he screamed out “Jesus,
son of David, have mercy on me.”

And if he hadn’t cried out at
that moment,

he would have never been healed.

Jesus passed by that one time.

Just as Jesus is passing by in
Central Florida right now and

He may never come this way
quite like this again,

when so many people have joined
together and prayed

and backed this crusade.

Most of the churches
in Central Florida

cooperating in
this great crusade.

When will it ever happen again?

Jesus is passing by and for many
of you this may be

the last time opportunity
that you’ll ever have

to make certain of your own
personal relationship to God.

And then, as he was
going out of Jericho,

Jericho a relatively small town,

there was another man
that wanted to see Jesus

and his name was Zacchaeus.

And he meets Jesus
going out of the town.

Now Zacchaeus was about the most
hated man in the town.

He was the richest man in town.

He was a publican,
a tax gatherer.

Rich and despised,
a social outcast,

because, you see,
he was Jewish

but he would collect all the
taxes for Rome,

the occupying country.

And then he would try to get
more than the taxes

and pay them to Rome and fill
his own pockets.

That’s the way the tax gatherers
were in those days.

They became
the richest people in town

and the most despised people
in town

because they were looked on
as traitors to their own people.

They were looked upon as
robbers, as cheaters,

and they became very wealthy as
a result of it.

Now if Jesus had considered
public opinion,

he would have looked
straight before him

when he came to
this Sycamore tree

where Zacchaeus had
climbed up in.

Now Zacchaeus was a lonely man.

He didn’t have any friends.

And there are many
lonely people here tonight.

Friends that misunderstand you,

loved ones that have betrayed
you and you’ve failed in school.

And your loneliness has
led you to bitterness.

And I imagine he was
a bitter man as well

because almost every person
in town despised him.

He was hated and
avoided by most people.

Yet he had a curiosity.

He’d probably heard about Jesus
many times.

Maybe he’d heard of the enemies
of Jesus say that he was a devil

or he was a fanatic or he was
a blasphemer or he was a heretic

or he was an imposter.

Maybe he’d heard some of
Jesus’ friends say that

he was a great teacher and
a good man, the Son of God,

the great Messiah that had been
predicted or a great prophet,

but he wanted to see it for
himself.

I can see Zacchaeus trying
to get through that crowd.

He was a very short man.

And I imagine some of the people
tried to push him away and

some would put their foot out
and make him stumble and fall.

He was trying to run
as fast as he could.

Probably if he had lived today,

he’d have had an
instamatic camera with him

to get a picture of Jesus,

like my wife does.

She has one and I enjoyed
married life before she got it.

[laughter]

And I enjoy it now.

She made one of me the
other day and called it

me on Golden Pond

because I had an old hat and
some old specs on and

I was sitting there beside a
fish pond and she took a picture

and she’s sending it around now,
maybe on our Christmas card,

I don’t know.

And Zacchaeus would have
had a tape recorder.

And I remember when we were in
Hungary and the first service,

we had several thousand people,

about fifteen or twenty thousand
people in that first service

in the open air outside
of Budapest.

And when I got through
preaching,

I heard all these clicks
going on.

And I turned to my wife
and I said,

“Are they gnashing their teeth?”

And she said, “No, those are
tape recorders.”

Everybody’s got
a tape recorder.

And they were taking
the message down and

then they were sending it
throughout Eastern Europe.

The messages that had been
preached.

And it was an amazing thing
to me in Budapest

that you could go
to the bookstores

and buy my sermons.

They put them in book form.

And I preached straight
Gospel sermons

just like I’m doing now.

God is doing some strange and
wonderful and thrilling things

throughout the world.

Mysterious things.

Things that pass
our understanding.

The devil is at work but so is
God at work.

Now this man Zacchaeus was so
anxious to see Jesus that

he decided to climb up
a tree.

He climbed up
a Sycamore tree.

Now there are many obstacles in
getting to Jesus

that you face too!

He faced the obstacle of
being so many people there,

so small of stature.

I imagine he was sitting up
there on that limb

with that tape recorder, or
the camera.

He wanted to get
everything that Jesus said.

He was so interested.

You, too, have your obstacles.

Now if you’re watching
by television right now

you can pick up a phone

and call that number that
you see on your screen

and get spiritual help right
now.

There are people standing by
to answer that phone.

Call right now
while I’m talking.

But you see the Bible says,

Jesus said, “And what shall
a man profit

“if he gain the whole world and
loses his own soul?”

And all the way through the
Bible you find choices made

between the things of the world
and the things of God.

Moses had to make that
choice.

He had to make the choice
between all the wealth of Egypt

and all the power of Egypt as
an heir to the throne of Egypt

and he had to turn
his back on it and

follow Christ.

Abraham had to turn his back
on all he had ever known

to go and find a city whose
builder and maker was God,

by faith.

And then there’s secret sins
that become obstacles to

coming to Christ.

The scripture says, “Cleanse
Thou me from secret sins.”

You see man looks on
the outward appearance

but the Lord looks
on the heart.

He knows what goes
on inside your heart.

He knows what you’re imagining,
what you’re thinking,

what you’re fantasizing.

He knows the things
you’re lusting for.

He knows the evil thoughts and
the pride and the jealousy and

the greed that’s in your heart.

And he judges by
what he sees inside,

not just by what
he sees outside.

And how many of you are
members of the church

in good standing,
officers in the church,

Sunday school teachers,

but down deep inside you know
that your heart is just as dark

as some of the worst sinners
in town.

And you know you are a hypocrite
and you are ashamed of it and

you don’t know what
to do about it and

you wish that somehow you
could find peace and

you haven’t been able
to find it.

Make your commitment
to Christ tonight and say,

“Lord, forgive me. I want to
come back to you.

“I once knew you. I once
knew the joy of Christ,

“but somehow I’ve lost that joy
and I’d like to find it again.”

And self-righteousness can also
be an obstacle.

There is a generation that are
pure in their own eyes and

yet is not washed from their
filthiness.

Self-righteous, like the
hypocrites of Jesus’ day.

Now, Zacchaeus was
sitting up there,

and he found his way to
the Sycamore tree,

just like you found
your way here

and curiosity brought him.

Curiosity.

Did you know many people find
Christ out of curiosity?

You’ve come to this meeting out
of curiosity, many of you.

Many of you came because
somebody brought you

but many came out of
just shear curiosity.

We heard about a man the other
night who was on his way past

on the highway and
he saw the lights on.

I think it was in one of
the papers

and one of the other papers
I read.

And he just stopped in here.

And he found a parking
place way off somewhere

and he walked over here.

And it was half-way
through the service,

but he gave his life to Christ
and it tells in the paper

the joy that he found
in Jesus Christ.

That can happen to you.

And so, he calls Zacchaeus,
“Zacchaeus come down.”

The crowd murmurs and they still
do when you eat with sinners

or try to reach those that are
on the other side of the track.

And Jesus tears the
hide off religious sinners,

but he treats other sinners
with tenderness and love.

You see the argument and
the debate Jesus had

was not even with
the Roman Empire.

His debate was with
the religious leaders who

were not living
as they should live.

They were hypocrites.

And there are many of us
that way.

We’ve developed
that same thing.

And this is certainly true
in some parts of our country,

where people go to church
in great numbers

but during the week
they’re not living

a daily life with Christ.

But, you know,
Jesus never compromised.

He doesn’t offer a cheap
grace or a cheap salvation.

When you come to Christ
you must be willing to

repent of sin and receive him
in your heart.

And notice he said it was
an urgent call.

He said, “Make haste,
come down now!”

Now is the accepted time, today
is the day of salvation.

There’s no promised tomorrow.

There’s no promise in the Bible
that you’ll be alive tomorrow.

God doesn’t make
any promises for tomorrow.

It’s today, now, now, now, now,

all the way through the Bible.

And it was a successful call

because Jesus did go to
Zacchaeus’ home

and probably took
Matthew with him

because Matthew had been
a publican, too,

and a tax gatherer
and Jesus has said,

“Follow me,” and Matthew had
gotten up and followed.

And maybe he took Matthew
with him

to give his testimony
to Zacchaeus.

I don’t know.

But Zacchaeus probably was
very proud and showed Jesus

all the things in his home.

All the art that he had
and his servants.

And the beautiful carpets he had
on the floor.

And the beautiful picture
windows that he had and

the beautiful view out there and
the grass and everything.

He was so proud of it all.

But Jesus probably just
stood there looking at Zacchaeus

and Zacchaeus began to wonder,
“Well, why is he looking at me

“like that? Those piercing eyes,
they’re reaching into my soul.”

Then Jesus turned and looked
out the window and

saw broken humanity.

He saw those who were suffering,
those who were poor,

didn’t have anything.

That Zacchaeus has stolen from
and cheated.

And Zacchaeus, his conscience
began to bother him.

He became convicted of his sins
and suddenly he opened the door

and he yelled at the top of his
lungs, “Lord Jesus, I’m ready.”

“If I’ve stolen from anyone
I’ll restore it fourfold.

“I’ll give back everything
I’ve ever taken from anybody.

“I just want to know you.”

It took restitution and it says
he did it with a new joy

in his heart.

He did it joyfully.

There seems to be little joy
in too many modern lives

even among professing believers.

And the Bible says
there’s two types of joy.

There’s joy in heaven when
a person comes to Christ.

I say unto you that likewise
joy shall be in heaven

over one sinner that repents.

When you come to Christ tonight,
you may be the only one,

but you’ll set off
the orchestras of heaven

and the choirs of heaven will be
singing because of you.

Just one person will cause
joy in heaven.

Then there’s joy inside your
heart when you come to Christ.

“These things have
I spoken unto you

“that my joy might remain in you

“and that your joy might be
full.”

Notice, it was open confession.

Zacchaeus stood and said
unto the Lord

in front of all the people.

Jesus said, “Whosoever therefore
shall confess me before men,

him will I confess before
My Father which is in heaven.

That’s the reason I ask
people to come forward

to make their commitment
to Christ publicly.

Every person that Jesus called
in the New Testament,

including Zacchaeus,

it was public in front
of other people.

He said if you’re not willing
to acknowledge me

before my Father,

I’ll not acknowledge you.

If you’re willing to acknowledge
me before your friends

and other people,

I’ll not acknowledge you
before my Father.

Wouldn’t it be terrible
to get there and

Jesus would not even
know us.

He says there are many people
who are going to say,

“But Lord, I did this for you,
and I did that and that”,

but he said, “I never knew you.”

And he won’t acknowledge us.

Come to Christ openly.

Yes, his repentance
cost him something.

He had to restore fourfold.

The surprise of the crowd,
the shock of the crowd.

There come times for restitution

if our repentance and faith are
to be real.

And the purpose of Jesus
coming into the world was to

seek and to save people like
Zacchaeus who were lost.

And many of you tonight are lost
from God and all the prayers and

all the work and all the money
that’s gone into this crusade

has gone into it for you.

To reach you because your soul
is worth more than

all the rest of the world
put together.

You say, “How could that be?”

Because it’s going to be
eternal,

because it’s going to
live forever.

When you die that’s
not the end of you.

You can’t commit suicide by
taking a gun to your brain.

Your body dies but your spirit,
the real you, lives on forever

and ever and ever and
ever in heaven or hell

and it depends on what
you do with Christ now.

Publicly.

I’m going to ask you to
receive Him tonight.

You know there was
a little boy that was lost

in the mountains of
North Carolina

where we live.

And they organized
the police and

they organized
the helicopters

and they got all the police dogs
they could

and they organized
hundreds of people

to search for that little boy.

And they searched for about
five days before they found him.

And when they found him
he was already dead,

piled in the snow and lost.

It was too late.

Thousands of people have worked
and prayed for this crusade

for you.

And God sees you sitting there
and he knows your heart and

he knows your need and

he calls you by name
and he says,

“Make haste Mary, come!”

“Jim, make haste, come!”

For today I’m coming
into your heart.

Will you allow me?

Will you entertain me into
your life and into your heart?

You say, “Well, Billy, what
really do I have to do?”

First, you have to be willing to
repent of your sin.

You say, “Well, what does
that mean?”

That means to change
your way of living,

to change your way of thinking
about Christ,

about God and about yourself.

It means to live
a new kind of a life.

It means you’re willing to give
up some of those wrong things

in your life and walk with him.

That’s repentance.

And Jesus said
except a man repent

he can’t see
the kingdom of God.

Have you repented?

Are you sure of it?

Did that change take place?

I’m not talking about you
saying, “O Lord, I’m sorry.”

That’s not repentance.

“O Lord, I’ve sinned.”

That’s not repentance.

It means a change.

Old things are passed away
and everything becomes new.

And then the second thing
you must receive him by faith.

“But as many as received Him

“to them gave He power
to become the sons of God,

“even to them that believe
on His name.”

Just simple faith,

like a little child believes in
its father or its mother.

You believe.

Jesus said you have to
become like a child.

You may be the professor
at the university in mathematics

or some of the sciences,

but you have to become like
a little child

when you come to Christ,

in faith, believing.

Just as I have confidence
and faith in this platform

to hold me,

that’s what the word
faith means.

You put your confidence in,
your strength in,

you put everything you have
in Jesus Christ

and you’re going to do that
tonight.

And then the third thing,

you must be willing
to follow him and obey him,

in reading the Scriptures and
in prayer and in witnessing.

Are you ready to do that?

If there is a doubt in
your heart tonight

that you are right with God,
you come and be sure.

You may not be a
member of any church

or you may be a member of
several churches.

I don’t know.

You might have been baptized
every way you can be baptized,

but that’s not enough.

You must come to Christ and find
him as your Lord and

your Master and your Savior.

And I’m going to ask you
to do it right now.

We’ve seen hundreds of
people every night come.

I’m going to ask you tonight
to get up out of your seat

and come.

And you that are
watching by telephone,

or watching by television,

pick up that telephone, call
and there will be a counselor

to talk to you right now and you
can make the same commitment

that people are
going to make here.

I’m going to ask hundreds of you
to get up out of your seat and

come because you may never have
another moment like this again.

Come now. If you come from
that top balcony,

it takes about two minutes,
so start now.

If you are with friends
or relatives,

or you’ve come in
a bus or with a group,

they’ll wait on you.

After you’ve all come,
I’m going to say a word to you

and have a prayer with you and
give you some literature

to help you in
your Christian life.

You get up and come.

You know you need Christ.

Bring your friend with you.

Husbands and wives, and
sweethearts and whole groups

that are here tonight,
you need to come.

You get up and come.

We’re going to wait.

Young and old.

There are some old people
here tonight.

You’ve heard the Gospel many
times but somehow

you’ve never really found peace
with God and you’re uncertain

about your relationship
with him.

Come and settle it tonight.

We’re going to wait as many
people come from everywhere.

♪

♪ Just as I am,
without one plea ♪

♪ But that thy blood
was shed for me ♪

♪ And that thou biddest me
come to Thee ♪

♪ O Lamb of God,
I come, I come. ♪

♪ O Lamb of God,
I come, I come. ♪

♪ Just as I am ♪

As you can see,

many hundreds are
making their way forward

here in the Tangerine Bowl to

commit their life to Christ and

we hope you’ll do the same while
you’re watching this program.

For spiritual help and
counseling,

please call the number
on your screen right now.

Trained counselors are standing
by waiting to talk with you.

If the lines are busy,
just wait a moment and

call back later or

write the number down so that
you can call at any time

throughout this evening.

Counselors will be there as long
as the calls keep coming in.

God bless you.

♪ I come. ♪

♪ Just as I am,
though tossed about ♪

♪ With many a conflict,
many a doubt, ♪

♪ Fightings within
and fears without ♪

♪ O Lamb of God,
I come, I come. ♪

♪ O Lamb of God,
I come, I come. ♪

You that have been
watching by television,

you can see here
in Orlando, Florida,

in this beautiful
Tangerine Bowl,

you can see
many people coming

to make their commitment
to Christ.

You can make that commitment
right now where you are.

You may be in a bar room,
you may be in a hotel room,

you may be in your living
room or in your bedroom.

Right where you are
bow your head and say,

“Yes, Lord Jesus,
come into my heart.”

And he’ll bring you
the same joy and peace

that he’s brought to my heart

and of those you’ve heard speak
tonight or sing tonight.

Give your heart to him now.

And, if you will, pick up
the telephone and call.

You may have to call two
or three times.

Keep calling.

There will be people there
for the next two or three hours

ready to talk with you.

Don’t let this night pass
or this day pass

without making
that commitment.

God bless you and be sure
and go to church next Sunday.

♪ Just as I am
poor, wretched, blind. ♪

♪ Sight, riches,
healing of the mind. ♪

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 CALL
THE NUMBER 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.

Jesus Christ died for the world.

Whatever country,

Whatever the color of your skin,

Whatever language you speak.

Jesus Christ died for your sins.

It’s Jesus.