Choices | Billy Graham Sermon

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billy

graham

classics for you who are watching on television this great stadium here at the university of san jose in the south san francisco bay area in san jose is full to overflowing there are a few empty seats here and there but If you take the people on the ground that are sitting all over the ground they more than fill this big stadium where the Spartans are playing tonight. I want you to go with me to the old testament to joshua chapter 24 to joshua chapter 24 now you who are watching The television will see a phone number on the screen that you call at any time during this program or after the program and your counselor is waiting to speak with you about your spiritual problems and your spiritual needs, so pick up the phone and call if they call. and he's busy call again now to joshua chapter 24 joshua, as you know, was a great military leader and he took Moses' place when Moses went to be with them and verse 15, he had now summoned all the leaders of Israel in a meeting. place called shechem and he is preparing to die and this is his farewell speech and during this speech he warns the people about their idolatry, he warns them that the judgments of god will fall upon them unless they live for the lord and this is what he says And if it seems wrong to serve the Lord, choose today who you will serve.

If you want to serve the devil, serve him but choose whether the gods your father served who were on the other side of the flood are the gods of the Amorites in whose land they live, but then he says As for me and my house we will serve the Lord Joshua said if each of you serves other idols and other gods it makes no difference as for me and my house we have already made a decision: we are going to serve the Lord and that is a decision that every person here tonight has to make. You have to decide that you are going to serve the gods of materialism that surround us or the living and true god and Joshua. he was warning people to choose God to follow instead of these other gods, so we have to make a decision.

Moses had warned Israel long before, generation before, when he was dying, he said, "I call heaven and earth to record this day against you." You have set before you life and death, blessings and curses, therefore choose life so that both you and your descendants may live. Moses had said the same thing that Joshua says separated by many years and each generation has to hear it again and again and again. That is why the gospel never ages it applies to all generations equally we have to make a decision they asked Alexander the great how he conquered the world he said without wavering and James says in the first chapter he who wavers is like a wave of the Wind-driven and tossed sea said that a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.

Are you unstable in your relationship with Christ? Are you wavering in your relationship with Christ or are you fully committed to Christ as savior and law? because? Many of you doubt this because of the way you live and Jesus warned the hypocrites people who pretend one thing and live another this was his great battle with the hypocrites in the church we have old proverbs that are familiar to us everyone who doubts is lost procrastination is the thief of time a stitch in time save nine a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush do not hesitate make a decision do it now that is what joshua and joshua were saying the great military hero who had guided them from victory after victory he reminded them of all the victories that god had given and he said: serve god and live, serve these other gods and you will die and be under the judgment of god and the message has not changed now that the wars are over but joshua found that The people were going towards idolatry and many times the problems of peace are greater than the problems of war and he had called all these leaders to Shechem now Shechem was a place the most historic place in all of Israel at that time and still It is today It was where Abraham had first settled when he left Ur of the Chaldeans.

It is where Jacob had purchased the plot of land from him. It was where Joseph's bones were buried when they were brought from Egypt, so he has the two mountains of him there. I stood there and on one mountain he put six of the tribes and on the other mountain he put the other six and Joshua spoke with a powerful voice even though he was an old man and he goes over the history of Israel and how God had blessed . them and how they had won their victories not by their own power and their own strategies and their own ingenuity and their own strength but by the power of god and the people should have been grateful to god but instead now they were going to other gods and We in America should be grateful to God for the blessings he has given us, but what do we find?

We find that we worship other gods, the gods of pleasure, the gods of lust and greed, and we hate the gods of materialism, even the gods of war and Joshua tells them that such a condition cannot continue they must decide. If you want to serve idols or serve the living god and he will not allow any neutrality either Jesus Christ and Joshua said you have to decide immediately now choose this day not tomorrow this day who you are going to serve and many of you are going to have to decide tonight What is the number one priority in your life is the priority Christ or is it the priority before something else Christ demands first place there is no room on the throne of your heart for two gods is it Christ or is it the other god because I think the emphasis should , we must make it clear that you cannot serve God and mammon, you must make a decision and I discovered that the more difficult the challenge, the greater the response.

Young people today want a challenge, they want something hard and tough, it is okay, give your life to Christ. will challenge you because he says you must deny yourself and take up a cross he says I am going to a place of execution come and go with me deny your own selfish ambitions and lust and turn to me and go to the cross with me now Paul taught that a Christian is someone who has turned from idols to God to serve the living and the true God. There is a movie showing. The world this year called the idol maker, but a Christian is an idol destroyer and regardless of his decision, Joshua said it is for me and my house we are going to serve the Lord, you know, Adam and Eve had to take A decision in God's garden of Eden said that if you want to build a wonderful world, we will build it together, but I am going to test you because I have given you the ability to choose.

I haven't turned you into a robot that I can hit. button and you would obey me I have made you in my image you have the right to choose so when Adam and Eve face that choice they chose wrong they violated God's law and God said on the day you do it you will suffer and die and man has been suffering ever since. and it is all due to that first sin in the garden of Eden and man has been inheriting that tendency to sin since the seed of sin is in us when we are born, David said that in sin my Mother, conceive me, think about this now in At conception, sin was already planted and then comes the age of responsibility, moral responsibility, perhaps at eight, nine or ten years old, when God holds you responsible for your actions and you choose to sin and then the rest. of your life you practice sin you are born towards sin you choose to sin at a certain point and then you practice it and the bible says that we all have sin and we are all idolaters now adam had to make a decision and he made the wrong choice many of you have to make a decision You who are watching on television I hope you use that phone number right now and call and choose for Christ and tell that counselor how for me in my house I choose the Lord and then many options like the rich young ruler remember that he came to Jesus and he was full of questions and he wanted eternal life and he said lord what must I do to find eternal life and Jesus said looked at him and loved him and said? go sell everything you have give it to the poor take the cross follow me the young man was afflicted he cried he wanted christ but he wanted his money more now if he had said okay I will do it lord I'm sure the lord would have said no it's not your money What I want, I want your heart, is our attitude towards these idols and towards these things, the television itself can become an idol when we walk into the room, all conversation stops and we sit there and bow looking at that box to see if a j.r they are going to shoot him again now the bible says we must choose two paths of life jeremiah had written thus says the lord behold, i set before you the path of life and the path of death there is a path of life there is a road of death which way are you?

Jesus said I am the I am the only one I am the only way to permanent peace I am the only way to permanent joy I am the only way to eternal life I am the only way to forgiveness of sin I am the only way to the father you have to come for me and that eliminates a lot of people when jesus started talking about dying on the cross many of his followers left him and said: Lord, we thought that you were going to sit on a great throne and that we were going to drive cadillacs and that we were going to having beautiful pools and beautiful ladies and everything else we didn't really know. that you were going to die and you wanted us to go with you we thought that this was going to be a kingdom and that we were going to overthrow Rome and that we were going to rule the world and that was going to happen one day but not now the cross before the crown some of us want the crown before the cross the bible says that there is a path that seems right to man but its end is the paths of death what are some of the paths well some people say that I am going to follow my conscience but you do not follow your conscience many Of us our conscience is dead, your conscience is no longer a safe guide, you have hardened it, you have dulled it, and then other people say, well, I try to be sincere in everything I do.

We are here in a football stadium and many years ago I saw a man pick up a football and run 65 yards in the opposite direction. Now he was one of the most sincere guys you've ever seen lose the game and then there are a lot of people who Say well, you know I do a lot of good deeds and I give money to charitable causes and I do everything that I'm sure God will understand. The Bible says, "By grace you have been saved through faith." of God, not of works, so that no man should boast, see if you can work your way to heaven and pay your way to heaven, would you stand up and say, look what I did, I got here by my own good works, the only way way that you What we are ever going to achieve is to get to that cross where Christ took our sins and our judgment and our hell and identify with him and then there are some people who say well, I will reform, I will do better.

I know people who are. I always say I'm going to do better but they never do better, they don't have any power within them to do better until they come to Christ and when you come to Christ there is an explosion of power that he gives you to live a new life no I can live the Christian life I have no power within me to live the Christian life the holy spirit has to live in me and Christ has to live through me I cannot live the Christian life I am a total failure Jesus said: enter through the door straight because wide is the door and broad is the road that leads to destruction and there are many who enter through it because straight is the door and the road that leads to life is narrow and there are few who find it.

Ugh, he said only a few are going to find that narrow door on that narrow road, like I said last night, are you among those few? You don't just choose between two forms of life, you choose between two masters. Jesus said that no man can serve two masters. father, he will hate one and love the other or he will cling to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and materialism, he says in Matthew, the sixth chapter of the Sermon on the Mount, you have to make a decision at all times. through the bible options options options options options not only between two lifestyles and two masters but you will have to choose between two parents two spiritual fathers said in john 8 a very striking statement in verse 44 said that you are your father's devil and the lust of your father you will now he says that for many of you the devil is your spiritual father now you are not aware of it you would not admit it but that is how God sees it, neither is there god your spiritual father the true god and christ lives or the devil exists and then you have to choose not only between two ways of life and two masters and two parents but you have to choose between two destinations heaven or hell solomon wrote about the road to hell in proverbs 7 27. c.s lewis the great professor of cambridge and oxford taught at both universities used to emphasize that he said that no one ever had as much to say about the road to hell as jesus christ, on the other hand, no one ever spoke of heaven with more clarity and authority than jesus christ and one of the most played pop songs is the zeppelin headed stairway to heaven jesus christ is the stairway to heaven he is the way to heaven come to him and if you want to come to him pick up that phone if you're looking and call that counselor who's waiting to tell you about the way to heaven and how you can find Christ, he said in my father's house in many mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you.

Yes, Jesus is in heaven preparing your heritage right now waiting for you,There is an afterlife and eternal life does not begin when you die and go to heaven, it begins here and now when you make this choice for Christ because eternity, eternal life comes to dwell. in your heart tonight Jesus Christ is the gateway to heaven now this choice must also be made by yourself Joshua said it is for me and my house we will serve the Lord your father cannot do it for you your mother cannot do it for you your children cannot do it for you this is where you must choose yourself he knew he couldn't choose for the tribes of israel they must choose for themselves man is a social being, however there is an inner sanctuary within ourselves where we withdraw from all the other fellowships, camaraderies and influences and there is a lonely arena where life's greatest battles must be fought alone and this is a decision you must make alone, Moses said.

Call upon heaven and earth to record this day that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse, therefore, choose life so that you and your descendants may live forever notice what your descendants say, this has something to do with your children and your grandchildren and with your children Children, my son and I were talking tonight about how this faith that we have in Christ is passed down from generation to generation. The writer to the Hebrews tells how Moses, considering the reproach of Christ greater riches in the treasures of Egypt, preferred to suffer affliction with God's people than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a time.

He made a decision Moses probably could have been The Pharaoh of Egypt He was the son of the Pharaoh's daughter, heir to all the wealth and power of Egypt and he made the decision to suffer persecution and disgrace with the people of God. He did not know that his name would be in history. He did not know. that one day he would lead all of Israel. Little did he know that he would one day be considered one of the greatest men who ever lived. When he made that decision, he did so based on a simple faith in God.

Some think Guy Lafla is the best hockey player in the world and he said a month ago that each of us has only one past, but there are many futures. Look, you can't change your past, but you can determine your destiny by deciding for Christ and when you do, Christ changes your past and erases all the sins of the past because you see the blood of Jesus Christ, his son cleanses from all sin. without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness when he died on that cross he forgave everything in the past tonight you remember the many sins in your life the holy spirits bring them to your mind right now and you know that they are against you in the moment of judgment where everything secret will come to light but Jesus tonight offers forgiveness but he offers more than forgiveness he offers justification as if you had never committed a sin what a wonderful thing it is to go to bed tonight and know that the past is no longer there, forgiven and clean. and god no longer remembers your sins yes and this choice is very urgent delay makes the right decision more difficult indecision is in itself a choice not to decide is to decide not to choose now nowhere in the bible does it promise a tomorrow come while you can time he himself makes the decision for you if you don't you say but what do I have to do three things you must be willing to repent of your sin that means changing the way you think about your sins and realizing how bad they are in sight of God changes your form you are thinking about God and you say I love him and I am going to love him with all my heart, mind and soul I am going to make him the priority of my life I am going to put him first from now on he will not only be my savior but my lord you may be a member of the church you may not be a member of any church you may be an officer of the church but you are not sure of your relationship with christ and you want to be sure and you must be willing to repent and secondly for faith receive christ into your heart, that means you put all your weight on him and trust in him and him alone and thirdly you follow him and serve him as his disciple and Follower and obey him, that means a big change for many of you.

If you make this decision, I will ask you to do it now and to do it publicly, as we have seen thousands of people do this. week now come to Christ I am going to ask you to get up from your seat if you start from the top stand there it will take you two minutes so start now and come and stand in front of this platform while everyone is standing here in front of the platform I am going to tell you a word and pray with you and give you some literature and you can come back and join your friends, you are making that decision by coming and standing here and the reason I do it publicly because every person that Jesus called, called publicly.

Joshua called the people publicly. Moses called on the people publicly to inscribe his pledge that would be seen publicly for generations to come. I ask you tonight to come publicly and openly. and say tonight Christ is going to be a priority in my life I want to know that I have eternal life and you who have been watching on television pick up the phone and call that number there are people waiting to talk to you right now as hundreds are responding to the invitation of Mr. Graham to make a public commitment to Jesus Christ. You can make that same commitment right where you are, simply pick up the phone and call the number you see on your screen.

Special friends are waiting to talk to you and pray with you. About this very important decision, you who are watching on television can see that here in this stadium at the University of San José in California, hundreds of people come to make their commitment to Christ, they pick up the phone that they see on their screen, they dial that number and If you don't get there right away, keep calling, they will be there all night and make your commitment to Christ over the phone or ask the counselor to answer your questions. God help you make that commitment and please go to church next Sunday.

If you just prayed that prayer with my dad or if you have any questions about a relationship with Jesus Christ, I'll just call that number on the screen, there will be someone there to talk to you, pray with you, and answer those questions. and remember that god loves you if you would like to give your life to jesus christ please call us right now toll free at 1-877-772-4559 that is 1-877-772-4559 or you can write to us at

billy

graham

one billy graham parkway apartment c charlotte north carolina 28201 or you can contact us on the web 24 7 at pacewithgod.com we will receive you the same help that we give to everyone who responds to the invitation on behalf of franklin graham and the billy graham evangelistic association thank you for watching and thank you for your Billy Graham Library Prayers