Life After Death | Billy Graham Classic

From our archives the Billy Graham

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s that tongue or pen can never say Goes beyond the highest star and reaches the lowest Could we fill ourselves within the ocean or if the heavens were made of parchment? every stem of the earth would be a feather and every man attribute by office the oh and strong will fall forever endure the holy angels now tonight I want you to come with me to job chapter 14 and verse 14 job chapter 14 and verse 14 Now Job is in the Old Testament and it is the oldest book in the world, there is no known book in the world as old as the book of Job and yet Job asked a question that I am sure disturbs many of you tonight. .

He asked a question that every great philosopher has struggled with. He asked a question that every great thinker and intellectual struggles with at some point. He asks the same question that one of this country's greatest scientists asked me about three weeks ago. He said science doesn't know anything about it, but he said that worries me. and what concerns us here is the question: if a man dies, will he live again. If a man dies, will he live again? the problem of

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, have you never thought that you have been at a funeral for a few moments you are solemn you are thoughtful that night you come back you go to bed you think about it one of these days they are going to take me to the cemetery they will be saying a few words about me is that the end is everything you know what the bible says the bible says there is a time to be born and a time to die birth is a happy event death is a tragic event and we have tears you take the fifth chapter of genesis and I will see the list of all those men who lived to be old Adam lived 930 years but died Methuselah lived 969 years but died I read about a man the other day in Brazil who they say lived 134 years but died at the end of each life is death life is very short the bible says it is a story that is told it is a weaving shuttle it is a flower that withers it is like grass that withers henry wadsworth longfellow once expressed it when he said that art is long and the fleeting time and our hearts, though strong and brave, continue like the muffled drums of funeral marches towards the grave and that is exactly where we are all heading is designed for man to die once you will die and you will not live now the big question is: are you ready to meet god because the bible says that man is appointed to die once but after that the judgment there is something after death according to this book now I repeat that I cannot take you to a scientific laboratory and prove it to you, but this book teaches from genesis to revelation that this life is just a preparation room for eternity there is another life the old testament teaches it the new testament teaches it jesus taught it the apostles taught it if a man dies will he live again that is the question that the work is done that is the question that millions are asking tonight and the answer of the bible is a resounding yes yes there is a life after death if a man dies he will live again cicero the great romans said on this subject I don't have more than conjectures I have spent a large part of my life looking for the answer Mrs.

Roosevelt Eleanor Roosevelt in one of her columns a few years ago said that it is instinctive for man to believe in life after death and a tribe is never found in any There is never a culture found anywhere in the world You never find a civilization anywhere in history that did not believe in some form of life after death and when the first ancestors and pilgrims came to this country they thought they had found some tribes in New England who did not believe in the tribes of Indians who did not believe in life after death, but they soon discovered, when they communicated with them, that they believed in the happy hunting ground, yes, man, instinctively, something in their interior says that there must be an afterlife, there must be something beyond this life, but after all there is only one authoritative person who can speak on this topic because he came from the grave, resurrected and his name was Jesus Christ about two or three years ago years I had the privilege of having an interview with Chancellor Conrad Adenauer in his last year in office as Chancellor of Germany he had invited me I was preaching in Germany and he had invited me to go see him and I didn't know what surprised me quite a bit and of course I was flattered to receive the invitation and I went, he greeted me very loudly. giant of a man, the man who had almost single-handedly restored democracy to Germany after the war, and I wondered what this great man wanted from me.

The first question he asked me was this: he said: do you believe in life after death? yes sir, I do I said I believe the bible teaches it he said I believe it too he said I am studying the resurrection of Jesus Christ and he said that when I leave office as chancellor I intend to spend the rest of my life studying the resurrection of Christ because he said that if Christ is alive there is hope in the world he said that if Christ is not alive there is no hope that I can see that civilization can be saved wasn't that something yes Jesus Christ is alive he rose from the dead on that day that Sunday Easter morning that first Easter when Mary and Mary Magdalene and Stallone went to the tomb expecting to anoint a corpse, they saw the angel sitting there and said where is Jesus?

The angel said he is not here, he is risen, I submit to Tonight, that is the best news the world has ever heard. He is not here. He has conquered the grave. He is alive. Ladies and gentlemen, I believe there is more evidence that Jesus Christ rose from the dead than almost any other event in Roman history. I don't think there is a fact in ancient history today as well proven as the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but even if there were no proof, there was no historical proof, there was no scientific proof and there is, I would still believe it because I think this book is the inspired word of God. and the entire early church went from one side of the country to the other preaching the resurrection of jesus christ that was what shook the roman empire that a man had risen from the dead who was alive that death could not hold him christ is alive he is alive savior and yet many of his followers and Christians live and act as if he is dead, he is not dead, he is alive and the bible says that at a certain time, a certain sign, he will return to this earth to establish his kingdom and what a kingdom.

It will be a world in which there will be no tears or sadness or death there will be no suffering there will be no war there will be no police forces there will be no armies so it will be a glorious world ruled by one person the lord jesus christ he is alive I have given my life not to a dead christ but a living christ and I am following a living savior and he has given me a song to sing he has given me a flag to follow he has given me something to believe in I have a reason to exist I know where I come from I know why I am here I know Where am I going God said Hezekiah put your house in order you are going to die now you and I are going to die because you see the Bible teaches that you and I have a body but living inside our body is your real you you are a real person and that is the part of you that lives forever your body is you are going to go to the grave but you, the real you, your intelligence, your memory, your personality will live forever and ever according to the bible you will never die and you will spend a million years, a billion of years in one of two places according to Jesus not according to

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but according to Jesus jesus spoke a lot about heaven but he spoke three times as much about hell as he did about heaven the other bible writers don't have much to say about hell but jesus talked about it all the time in the sermon on the mount, I've had guys say I don't believe in hell, I live, but the sermon on the mount, well you've never read the sermon on the mount, Jesus talked about it now, what did?

By this he meant that he said that the Son of Man will send his angels and they will gather from his kingdom all the scandalous and those who do iniquity and throw them into the furnace of fire and there there will be weeping, wailing and creaking. of teeth what did Matthew 25 41 mean then he will say to those on the left depart from me cursed to the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels what did he mean he is saying that hell was never made for man he is saying that God will never send no one to hell if man goes to hell, he goes by his own free choice hell was created for the devil and his angels, not for man god never meant that a man should go there and god has done everything He was in his power to keep you out, he even gave his son to die on that cross to keep you out because you see, when God made you, he made you a free moral agent.

You can live any kind of life you want. You can live a good life. live a bad life you can break god's laws you can obey them you can shake your fist in god's face and there is nothing god can do because when he created you he gave you a gift a free choice you are not a robot that pushes you you press a button and you put yourself in a bag. You have the right to resist God and reject God, but the Bible says that despite our rebellion and rejection, God loves you, he loves you so much that he gave his son to die for your sins. and when Christ died on that cross we do not understand everything that happened on that cross but we know one thing that he took hell and the judgment that you deserved and that I deserve for our sins he took it on that cross and that is why that terrible expression comes from his lips my god my god why have you abandoned me because you see the very meaning of hell is separation from god and in that terrible moment a shadow passed between god the father and god the son for the first time since eternity christ began dying for you and He suffered the pains of hell He became guilty of lying He became guilty of slander He became guilty of jealousy He became guilty of the most filthy and dirty sins and when those sins entered his soul your sins and my sins came into his soul God could not look because god can't look at iniquity god is so holy christ took the hell that you and i deserved on that cross now god says receive him believe in him put your trust in him and I will forgive you sins and guarantee you eternity in a place called heaven It's all yours and it's all free all you have to do is receive it what offer is offered to you tonight eternal life now eternal life does not begin the moment you die now when you die as a Christian eternal life does not begin that eternal life begins in the moment you receive christ now many of you here in south carolina and in north carolina and all over the country have gone into christian homes or go to a church where you live a pretty decent life and you're living in the reflected radiance of the religion of your fathers, but you have never received Christ for yourself, you have never trusted him for yourself, you do not really know him, you do not really know him. are you sure you are ready to meet god and the bible says prepare to meet your god are you ready are you sure you are ready?

You know that the Bible says these things, I write to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you can know that you have eternal life. I can be here tonight without being selfish without being conceited. I can stand here tonight and tell you with the authority of this book. I know my sins are forgiven. I know I'm going to heaven. I know. that I am going to live as long as God lives because the moment I received Christ I became a participant in God's own life now I am going to live for a billion years and I will barely have begun I know that it is not because of any goodness of my own that I am not going to heaven because I have lived a good life I am not going to heaven because I have preached to large crowds of people I am going to heaven because of what Christ did on that cross because by grace you are saved through faith, not of yourselves, not by works, so that no one is saved. boast, we don't go to heaven because we are good, we don't go to heaven because we work, we don't go to heaven because we pay we go to heaven because of what he did on the cross and all I have to do is receive it and it's so simple to receive Christ that Millions stumble over its simplicity.

God made it so simple that children can believe. he made it so simple and so easy that a blind a deaf a mute can believe a man of any race can believe a man of any nationality any language can believe and that's all God says you have to do to get to heaven . just believe now that word believe is a little more than maybe you think it is means commitment means surrender means that I give everything I have to Jesus Christ and I trust only in him for my forgiveness and my salvation means that in the moment you receive him your name is written in the book of life is your name in the book of life are you sure you will go to heaven?

Are you ready to meet God? If there is even the slightest doubt in your heart tonight that you are ready to meet God, don't you dare leave here without figuring out why, because you may never have another hour or another moment like this. You can't come to Christ whenever you want. The Bible says that he who hardened his heart by being rebuked often will suddenly be cut off that without remedy thousands of people have prayed for this crusade the spirit of God has brought you here hundreds of people have come to Christ already on this crusade the way your heart is ready the spirit of god is speaking tonight this is the time this is the moment and you may never have this moment like this again.

I'm going toasking you to give your life to Christ to make sure your name is written in the book of life to make sure you go to heaven. and receive eternal life tonight and this is how we are going to do it. I'm going to ask you to get up from your seats right now. Hundreds of you rise from your seats and come and stand in front of this platform right now in silence and reverence. I am going to ask that no one leave the service please get up from your seat men young women you can be members of the church you can be ushers you can be members of the choir get up from your seat and come and stand here and after you are here I am going to tell you a few words, I have a prayer, I give you some literature, you can go back and join your friends, that's all, but it is very important that you come and make it public. statement Jesus said if you are not willing to recognize me before men I will not recognize you before my father who is in heaven get up and come right now there is something about coming forward that establishes it and seals it in your heart you understand get up and come quickly and I'm going to ask that everyone be in prayer bow your head and pray, pray for the person to the right and to the left of you behind you, in front of you, maybe no one has prayed for them to do it. come to christ before many people are already on the road get up and join them and see what time and what moment for you to come to christ we will wait while you come are you watching

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s please call the phone number that appears on the screen right now for spiritual help and guidance.

Oh, 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, 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 most important decision, oh uh uh, for you who have been watching on television and will be leaving the service now in a moment. you can make the same commitment and the same decision that they are making and the same christ that will enter their hearts and give them security will do the same for you maybe you are sitting in a bar somewhere maybe you are in your living room in at home or maybe you're at a friend's house maybe you're in some unusual place that I couldn't even think about right now and you need Christ and you need God in your life, you can receive him right now and he can bring you. about a tremendous change and then go to church on Sunday have a talk with a minister tell him the decision you have made and start working for Christ and live in this new dimension of living the spiritual dimension good night and God bless you Yes you just prayed that prayer with my father or if you have any questions about a relationship with Jesus Christ, I would 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. god loves you if you would like to give your life to jesus christ please call us toll free right now at 1-877-772-4559 or you can write to us at billy graham 1 billy graham parkway apartment c charlotte north carolina 28201 or you can contact us on the web 24 hours a day of the day, 7 days a week on pazcongod.tv.

We will receive the same help that we provide to all who respond to the invitation on behalf of franklin graham and the billy graham evangelistic association, thank you for watching and thank you. Because of your prayers we had to wait for the coming of Christ with patience we must look ahead the scriptures say that Christ will come when you least expect it he will come like a thief he said be prepared prepare prepare prepare to meet your god are you ready?