Billy Graham Quotes - Page 19

Anyone who has genuinely seen God is deeply convicted of his or her own sin.

Evangelism is not a calling reserved exclusively for the clergy. I believe one of the greatest priorities of the church today is to mobilize the laity to do the work of evangelism.

We have some of the finest civil rights laws in the world, but they have not solved our racial problems. Why? Because we need a change of heart and attitude, Jesus said, “You must be born again” [John 3:7].

Nothing can calm our souls more or better prepare us for life’s challenges than time spent alone with God.

I’m afraid most Bibles remain unopened and unread. Don’t let this be true of yours!

As long as Satan is loose in the world and our hearts are dominated by his evil passions, it will never be easy or popular to be a follower of Christ.

We have glamorized vice and minimized virtue. We have played down gentleness, manners, and morals—while we have played up rudeness, savagery, and vice . . . and the philosophy of “might is right.

[Angels] crisscross the Old and New Testaments, being mentioned directly or indirectly nearly 300 times.

Learn to take sin seriously—be on guard against it and resist its tug, fight its power. But most of all learn to take the Holy Spirit seriously, calling on Him to help you overcome sin’s power and live a holy and godly life.

Many people today have discarded the Bible’s clear teaching on sexual relations outside of marriage, simply because they are absorbed only in their own pleasures and desires.

As husband and wife, to have a happy life together, you must have confidence and respect, and you must have substantial agreement in your faith.

It has always been a mark of decaying civilizations to become obsessed with sex. When people lose their way, their purpose, their will, and their goals, as well as their faith . . . they go “a whoring.” It is a form of diversion that requires no thought, no character, and no restraint.

Only God Himself fully appreciates the influence of a Christian mother in the molding of character in her children.

We are to be catch basins for the fullness of God. Like a freshly running spring, we are to overflow and let our lives touch the lives of those around us.

As much as we hate to admit it, we are sinners by birth. We are also sinners by choice. We are also sinners by practice.

Many a criminal has finally given himself over to the authorities because the accusations of a guilty conscience were worse than prison bars.

When brothers and sisters in Christ unite in the common bond of the Word of God and prayer, they are strengthened in their faith and witness.

The first and second commandments are the only therapy the world has ever needed. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind . . . Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” [Matthew 22:37, 39 KJV].

A suffering person does not need a lecture—he needs a listener.

How do we prepare for that last day? Before we embark on our final trip, have we left an earthly home in a state of chaos or a condition of order?

Through the written Word we discover the Living Word—Jesus Christ.

Confidentiality is the essence of being trusted.

Whether or not we sense and feel the presence of the Holy Spirit or one of the holy angels, by faith we are certain God will never leave us or forsake us.

By [Christ’s] resurrection life, He gives us the power over the tendency to sin as we allow Him to control our lives.

As long as we are on this earth, we possess dual citizenship. On one hand we owe allegiance to our nation and are called to be good citizens. But we are also citizens of the kingdom of God. Our supreme loyalty is to Him.

There are many religions in the world, and they have developed because various people have had various ideas about God. Christianity makes a unique claim . . . we can know God because He came to us in human form in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Our schedules are so hectic we can’t get everything done, or else we are bored and restless, constantly looking for something to amuse us. We are the most frantic generation in history—and also the most entertained. The Bible tells us that both extremes are wrong.

Heaven has no clocks or calendars, and time will be no more [Revelation 10:6].

We constantly pass up the rich and beautiful and ennobling experiences and seek out the tawdry, the cheap, and the degrading. These are the works of the devil, and they flourish on every side!

Only as we bow in contrition, confession, and repentance at the foot of the cross, can we find forgiveness. There is the grace of God!

Anger flees when the Spirit’s fruit fills our hearts.

The church is a storehouse of spiritual food whereby the inner man is fed, nourished, and developed into maturity. If it fails, it is not fulfilling its purpose as a church.

There is only one passion that can help us control the many other passions that plague us; that is the passion to know and obey God. When we get out of touch with Christ, we begin touching the things of the world, trying to fill the void that human flesh craves.

Young people, look to your Bible when thinking about any matter, including getting married.

Revelation is a pastor’s letter to his floundering flock, an urgent telegram bearing a brilliant battle plan for a people at war.

The Holy Spirit illuminates the minds of people, makes us yearn for God, and takes spiritual truth and makes it understandable to us.

[God] knows that an uncontrolled life is an unhappy life, so He puts reins on our wayward souls that they may be directed into the “paths of righteousness.

There is hope for the alcoholic: God is able to deliver from this as well as any other addiction.

Why did Jesus Christ leave heaven’s gloryand enter this sin-infested world? For one reason: to make our eternal salvation possible.

I am convinced that hundreds of religious leaders throughout the world today are servants not of God, but of the Antichrist. They are wolves in sheep’s clothing; they are tares instead of wheat.

Sin was conquered on the cross. [Christ’s] death is the foundation of our hope, the promise of our triumph!

The Father is the source of all blessing, and the Son is the channel of all blessing, [and] it is through the Holy Spirit at work in us that all truth becomes living and operative in our lives.

True conversion will involve the mind, the affection, and the will. There have been thousands of people who have been intellectually converted to Christ . . .but they have never been really converted to Him.

You can use your tongue to slander, to gripe, to scold, to nag, and to quarrel; or you can bring it under the control of God’s Spirit and make it an instrument of blessing and praise.

Deep down inside I knew something was different . . .I wanted to tell others what had happened to me. I didn’t have any tears, I didn’t have any emotion, I didn’t hear any thunder, there was no lightning . . . but . . . I made my decision for Christ.

Memorizing the Bible is most important. “Thinking God’s thoughts” will take the place of worried, anxious concerns.

My home is in heaven. I’m just passing through this world.

A Roman soldier . . . thrust a spear into Jesus’ side and out came blood and water. Physicians say that a mixture of blood and water indicates that Jesus died of a broken heart. He poured out the last ounce of His blood to redeem us.

God doesn’t comfort us to make us comfortable, but to make us comforters.

We must warn the nations of the world that they must repent and turn to God while there is yet time. We must also proclaim that there is forgiveness and peace in knowing Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

Pride always puts [self] above others—and cuts [itself] off from them as a result. No one likes an arrogant, prideful person.

It is possible through sin to harden our hearts against God so long that we lose all desire for God. The Scripture says: “God also gave them up” [Romans 1:24 KJV].

Because God is the giver and source of our life, He has a legitimate claim upon our lives.

To be Spirit-filled is to be controlled or dominated by the Spirit’s presence and power.

Christianity has become so respectable and so conventional that it is now insipid. The salt has lost its flavor.

God never leads us to do anything that is contrary to His Word. But the opposite is also true: God always leads us to do everything that is in agreement with His Word.

By faith in [Jesus] we can be forgiven of our sins and know the joy of following Him every day.

When we are called before God and His throne of judgment, it will be too late to reverse our decision. It is during our lifetime here on earth that we decide our eternal destiny.

To be a Christian is not a pious pose. It is not a long list of restrictions. Christianity flings open the windows to the real joy of living. Those who have been truly converted to Jesus Christ know the meaning of abundant living.

Spiritually, we have wandered far from the faith of our fathers . . . no nation which relegates the Bible to the background, which disregards the love of God and flouts the claims of the Man of Galilee, can long survive.