A (0:03)

Welcome to Faith of Our Fathers. Today's featured preacher is Billy Graham. Ordained in 1939, Mr. Graham received a solid foundation in the scriptures at Florida Bible Institute, now Trinity College of Florida. In 1943, he graduated from Wheaton College and married fellow student Ruth McHugh Bell, daughter of a missionary surgeon who spent the first 17 years of her life in China. After graduating from college, Ruth Mr. Graham pastored the Village Church of Western Springs, now Western Springs Baptist Church in Western Springs, Illinois. He then joined Youth for Christ, an organization founded for ministry to youth and servicemen during World War II. He preached throughout the United States and Europe in the immediate post war era, emerging as a rising young evangelist. Listen as Dr. Graham preaches on why God requires BL.

B (1:09)

I want to preach tonight on why does God require blood in the Bible, there's so much blood. We think about it every day in our newspapers or on television. There's so much blood flowing when thousands of people are murdered each year in the United States, when thousands of people are killed in automobile accidents, when blood is shed on our television screens and films and documentaries, and sometimes the man that is being killed splatters the blood almost on your screen, in your room, and we see blood everywhere. And yet, in some strange sort of mysterious way, God requires blood to be shed in order for us to know him, whether it's in the Old or the New Testament. And the great Jewish holidays are coming up next week, and one of them is the day of atonement, Yom Kippur. And people are going to be remembering that day of atonement because without the shedding of blood, there's no forgiveness of sin, the Scripture says. And this passage in the 17th of Leviticus, for the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I've given it to you upon an altar to make an atonement for your souls. For it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. It is the blood. And it started out that way. I would like to turn to another passage of scripture, Hebrews, the 9th chapter and the 22nd verse that says, without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. If blood had not been shed, none of us here tonight could have our sins forgiven according to the Bible. Then Revelation, the fifth chapter, and beginning with verse nine, these words. And they sang a new song, saying, thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof, for thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and Nation and hast made us unto God, kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth. And I beheld and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders. And the number of them was 10,000 times 10,000 and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them heard this saying. Blessing and honor and glory and power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever. One of the things that was a stumbling block to me when I first began studying and reading the Bible many years ago was all the sacrifices on Jewish altars in the Old Testament. Why did there have to be. It sounded very much like something very heathen and very pagan and very cruel. But in these passages, we find a lamb looking like a lamb, but actually a lamb, a lamb that was slain for our sins. And in this passage in Revelation, we find that the secrets of the past and the present and the future of the earth are found here and opened for all to see. It is that by the blood God has reconciled the world unto himself. Through the death of his own Jesus Christ shed his blood. And so the elders of all those in heaven sing as never before. They sing a new song. The music of heaven has centered around the cleansing and redeeming power of the blood of Christ. All heaven recognized at this moment that redemption was through and by the blood of the Lamb. In many hospitals in the last few years, at the Mayo Clinic, where I go once in a while, they have a little pamphlet there that says, a gift of blood. And do you know that blood and not gold is the world's most valuable commodity? Blood transfusions that are given in hospitals around the world. And sometimes they get mixed up, and sometimes it causes a great deal of trouble if they don't match the exact same blood that they're transferring to the others. But in the Genesis we read the beginnings of civilization or beginnings of the world. And in that very early beginning, probably in southern Iraq, when man was created and placed there in perfect environment, perfect fellowship with his Creator. God and man were friends. And God had given to man a gift he didn't give to his other creatures. Apparently, he gave him the gift of free choice. Man did not have to serve God. He didn't have to love God. He could shake his fist At God. He could turn his back on God. He could think anything about God. He wanted to think. And God said, you can have all the fruit in the gardens except one tree. There's one tree that you are not to touch. If you eat of that fruit on that tree, you will suffer and die. For man could not resist the temptation. Man and woman. And they did take of that tree. And they began to suffer and they began to die. And that was God's judgment upon them. And now the great question is, how could they get back to God? Because that sin separated them from fellowship with God. They could no longer walk with God. They could no longer fellowship with him. They were separated from God. And man has been suffering ever since. And now we come down to the 1990s. And we see the splits and divisions in the Soviet Union. And we see new nations being formed. And some of those new nations may have atomic bombs. We don't know. This whole nuclear thing may be totally out of hand. As it may be proliferated throughout the world. What are we going to do? How are we going to solve the awful problem of peace among those nations in Europe alone, Just the ones in Yugoslavia? I've been in all those nations except Albania. I've been in those places in Yugoslavia. And I know how deeply those people feel about people just a few miles away. And Europe, that has seen so many wars through history. Seems to be on the verge of something very dangerous. And yet the possibilities are there for something very wonderful as well. And we don't know which direction it'll go. We've seen on the television Mr. Gorbachev and Mr. Yeltsin working hand in hand to try to keep the Soviet Union at least part of it together. But we also see the independence of a number of republics in the Soviet Union. What's going to happen? What's going to be the future? In Genesis, the third chapter, we see the beginnings of that great division. Because Adam and Eve sinned. And it says that God went out and slew some animals and clothed them because they were naked and he clothed them. Blood had to be shed. And then the first couple that were born were Cain and Abel to Adam and Eve. Cain became jealous of Abel, and he slew him. Why? Because Cain had brought a vegetable offering to God. Abel had brought a blood sacrifice. And from the beginning, God was teaching the human race that you approach him by blood. Why? We'll see. In a moment. We come to Exodus, the 12th chapter. And you see as the death angel was passing over Egypt. And God was going to deliver his people out of Egypt. And he said, when I see the blood, I will pass over. They had to go kill an animal and take that blood and sprinkle it on the lintel or the doorpost. And if the blood wasn't there, the death angel would come to that home, and the oldest son of that home would be slain as a part of God's judgment upon them on all the people of Egypt. And many people did not put the blood on the doorpost. And their oldest son was slain. And there was crying and screaming in the land of Egypt that night. Why blood? It says in this passage, for the life of the flesh is in the blood. It means life. Blood means life. Several great words on the power and value of the blood around which the music of the angelic host gathered. The first word is redemption. One of the most devoted movements in the worldwide Catholic Church is known as the Sisters of the Precious blood, based on 1st Peter 1, 18 and 19. Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with with silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb without blemish and without spot. Redemption is a word that we use constantly. We're redeemed by what? By the blood of Christ. And that word, redemption comes out of the business world or pawn shop. Articles of value, a place for a loan. A time limit is set. The failure of the borrower to reimburse with interest. The pawn shop automatically releases the article to the public. And any person putting up that amount required is able to buy out the pawn. The article. That's redemption. And you and I were in the pawn shop of the devil. And by disobedience. We were enslaved and spiritually under his authority, unable to redeem ourselves. So Christ came and redeemed us by shedding his blood on that cross. Back in the days of Rome, they had slavery. And I read about one slave girl that was given her freedom. She jumps up and down on the ground and she says to her master, you have redeemed me, and I will serve you faithfully all of my life. He had redeemed her. Fallen man was on the auction block with no one to redeem him. And all the problems that we face in our world today have come from the fact that man is separated from God. We're made for God, made for fellowship with God. We're to follow God, we're to live according to his commandments, we're to obey him, but we're separated from him. And we need to be redeemed. I think of Crown Heights. Brother Turner is on the platform tonight, and he and I went to see the mayor last week. And we could see something of the anguish on the mayor's face as he thought about what was happening in Crown Heights. In that part of Brooklyn and all over the world, there are differences and divisions, and we need to pray for peace. We need to work for peace. We need to do all we can. But where does it come from? Where does the fightings and the difficulties and problems that we face come from? It comes from the human heart. Our hearts are separated from God. We don't have the power to redeem ourselves. But Christ came and redeemed us by his blood on the cross. And then the second word is forgiveness or remission. Matthew 26. For this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. We say that when we take communion, whether we're in an Anglican church or a Catholic church or a Baptist church, we use similar phraseology. We're quoting Jesus. This is my blood which was shed for you. And the blood is a shadow or a type in the Old Testament. And it was sprinkled on the tabernacle, the vessels, the book, and the congregation annually. Jesus, in his death on the cross, made possible the forgiveness of our sins and the extension of mercy. Holiness was left pure while mercy and love provided the demands of justice. And that's the very heart of the gospel. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. That whosoever believeth in him, puts his trust in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life. Because, you see, you and I are under the sentence of death, spiritual death, separation from God out into eternity. A hundred years from now, we'll still be separated from him, not separated from his love. He'll always love us. Loves us so much that he gave his only begotten son. He's demonstrated his love a thousand times to us. And if you never get anything out of these messages that I'm trying to bring here at night, remember one thing. God loves you. And he loves you, and he loves you. He loves every one of us. No matter what you've done, no matter how you've sinned, he loves you. And even though you're separated, he has his arms wide open. He will receive you. Jesus, in his death on the cross made possible the forgiveness sin. I read about a daughter of a poor widow who left home three years later, convicted by her sins. She came home late one night and she was surprised to find the door was unlatched and the mother said, never, my darling. Has that door been fastened since you left? It's always been open. God's door is always open to anyone who returns home. God stands ready to forgive you tonight. He never has to get ready. He's always ready. But thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness, the scripture says. And then there's another word, a big word called justification. Romans 5:8 says, But God commended this Lord. Love taught us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. You see, everywhere you turn, it's blood. Why blood? Blood is life. God was giving the life of His Son for you. And blood covers sin, the blood of Christ. And blood is very ugly to us. It's very ugly to God. But sin is ugly. And God was trying to show us how ugly and terrible and awful our sins are in his sight. Because God is a holy God and he cannot even look upon sin, the scripture says, and we're justified. That word justified means dust. As though you had never sinned. If you'd never committed a sin in your whole life, never had an evil thought, never told a lie, he places you in the sight of God as though you had never sinned. Because when God looks at you, he doesn't see your sins, he sees the blood. The blood is on the doorpost of your heart. And we're going to be received in heaven. Not because of our goodness. We're not going to be received. I'm not going to be received in heaven because I've preached to crowds of people or read the Bible. I'm going to be received there because of the blood. When God looks at me, he's going to see the blood of Christ that covers me. By faith, I have received him. I have repented of my sins. Now, man cannot do that for himself. The physiological and psychological and spiritual all convict us of sin. But we have been justified freely by his grace. Grace means something that you don't deserve. And God offers you grace and he offers you mercy and he offers you justification, just as if you had never committed a sin in your whole life. You go home tonight free from that guilt if you put your trust in Him. A little girl asked by her mother if she was afraid to die, and she said, no, Mother, I'm not afraid to die. On what are you depending? The mother asked. On the justice of God, was the reply. You mean the Mercy of God, don't you? No, mother, said the daughter. I mean the justice of God. You know, Mother, all my sins were laid on Jesus, and He bore my punishment. God in his justice will not punish me too. He's not going to punish Jesus and me too. Jesus took it on the cross. And even his justice says, I'm free from the guilt of sin. How much God loves us. And then there's the word cleansing. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another. And the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us from all sin. And that carries with it the idea that God is continually cleansing us. I need cleansing every day. I ask God every day to forgive my sins. I ask God every day to cleanse me. Because as we move along as Christians, we pick up the things of the world. We may not even be aware of it. Because, you see, when we come to Christ, we don't become sinless. We're still sinners, saved by the grace of God. But we can also do wrong, make mistakes, commit sins. We don't do it habitually. I'm not a medical doctor, but I know that the blood in your body flows through your veins and arteries essentially for two purposes. One is to cleanse the cell, and the other is to infuse and infuse that cell with life. So the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from sin, and he infuses us with life, the life that is eternal forever. Fire is a cleansing power. The jeweler is often called upon to refashion some old vessel of gold or silver. And the article is placed in a pot over an alcohol flame and allowed to remain for hours. The boiling process cleanses corrosion, dust and other metals that come to the surface and dripped off. All the dross is taken away. The blood of Christ cleanses. You can take brown sugar and dip it in blood from animals, and it bleaches the sugar next to snow in its whiteness. Did you know that? That you can take brown sugar, dip it in blood from animals, and it bleaches the sugar white. God takes our sins. He takes our hearts, and the blood of Christ makes them as white and as pure as though we'd never sinned. That's what I'm depending on to take me to heaven. That's what I'm depending on to give me joy and spiritual power in my daily life, to guide me, to lead me, to direct me, to give me a peace that other people don't have. And the process is twofold. First, you must repent of your sins. And repentance means you say to God, I've sinned. I acknowledge my sins. I'm willing to turn from my sins. But Lord, I've tried before and I can't do it. I can't give up that habit that I know is wrong. I cannot do it. God helps you in your repenting. To all who would forsake sin, God offers a new chance. A student co ed in the papers at 19, got into the Guinness Book of Records by standing in the shower for a consecutive 121hours. Can you imagine that tonight to be cleansed by the blood of Christ, you don't have to take a 121 hour shower. You come at this moment and receive Christ who died on the cross. Every person in the New Testament that found Christ found him almost immediately. Some people, it takes a long time of thinking and so forth. I know that. But some of the greatest conversions in scripture took place immediately. And the greatest evangelist in the New Testament was a woman. The woman at the well that Jesus talked to. And she had had several husbands, she had committed all sorts of sins, but Jesus forgave her and changed her. And she went to her village and brought the whole village to see Jesus. And the village turned to Christ. In a matter of a few hours, she had become an evangelist and led her whole village to Christ. Yes, Jesus promises to blot out all the old sins and make the record begin and start all over again. And then there's peace that he brings with his blood. Colossians 1:20. And having made peace through the blood of his cross by him to reconcile all things unto himself. Many of you are searching for peace. Some of you are searching for something. You don't know what you're searching for. There's a void in your life. There's an emptiness there. It may be in the middle of your marriage, it may be between you and your boyfriend, there's trouble. Or maybe there's not any trouble, but something's missing. You go out on a date, you go to the club, the nightclub or the disco or whatever, and it all looks great and it feels great for the time being. But something is missing and you go home empty again. You try to find it in alcohol, you try to find it in drugs, you try to find it in sex. It's not there, that peace and that joy that you see in the lives of other people or the power to go through suffering, like we heard tonight, it's not there in your life. You don't have to strive for that peace. It'll be given to you by God because the blood has been shed for you. There's a famous incident in the First World War that you've heard about, I'm sure, one of the terrible battles that was fought. There was two wounded soldiers. One was German and the other French. And as they lay near each other on the field, the Frenchman gave his enemy a drink to cool his tongue. Then they clasped hands and the dying German said, there will be no war on the other side. Yes, there'll be no war on the other side. When we come to Christ, the fightings and the conflicts are over as far as our relationship with God is concerned. There's been no war in the individual soul of a man who has truly received Christ and has the Prince of Peace ruling in his heart and in his life. Your whole life, your whole family, your whole business, everything can be transformed by you making your commitment to Christ tonight. A man came to see me last night in the room where I see people. And he told me a long story about the difficulties in his life. Now, I won't tell you the story, But he lives in New York City, a very successful man. And he and his wife just could not make it. They couldn't get along. And one day he began to read in the Bible for the first time in his life because they were both atheists. And he came to a passage in the Gospel of John that absolutely penetrated his heart and life and changed him and transformed him. Then he became a new person. And today he's a Christian leader on Manhattan. That could happen to you. The war had been removed and then the next word is access by the blood. But now in Christ Jesus ye who were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. Ephesians 2:13, Hebrews 10:19. Having therefore brethren boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus by a new and living way. You see, they had to go into the holiest place once a year to make atonement for sin. But Jesus entered that holiest place once and for all for you, and represented you because he shed his blood for you. And in that moment when he died on the cross and he said, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? The veil in the temple was rent in two because there was a veil in the temple. And the people couldn't go through that into the holiest place to fellowship with God. And this was the symbolic of the veil between God and man that has kept fallen man from Having access to the Father. Sir Walter Scott was once speaking about the veil of the temple being rent. And a man in the back stood up and said, how big was that hole? And Walter Scott answered, it's big enough to let any sinner pass through. Thank God. It's true that a new and living way has been found through the blood of Christ that I can come straight into the presence of God and have his ear. And I can say, dear Father, in the name of Jesus, I come to you. And because that blood was shed on the cross, he hears me. And not only hears me, but answers me. Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me, wrote John Newton. John Newton was a slave of a slave on the west coast of Africa many years ago. And in a thunderstorm one night on a slave ship, he was converted to Christ. He came back to England, he became an Anglican priest. He became a close friend of Wilberforce and he influenced Wilberforce to take the lead to free the slaves in Britain. And that led to the great freeing of the slaves in Great Britain and ultimately in the United States and in other parts of the world. And when he was pastor of a little church up in Olney, England, he wrote that song, Amazing Grace. How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. He said, I was a wretch. I was at the bottom of the bottom. And because that blood was shed for me and because Christ died for me, I am received by the Father into the throne room of heaven. And then the blood of Christ silences Satan. You see, Satan is the accuser of the brethren. He stands before God. I don't understand it. There are mysteries in the Bible I can't explain, but he accuses you and he accuses me. In Romans 8:33, it says, who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Satan is standing daily before the throne to accuse us. His accusations fall flat. We conquer because we see the conqueror of death and hell. We're safe because of the cross. Satan cometh and hath nothing in me. He cannot accuse the Son of God of failure at any point. Jesus was the complete victor. Centuries ago, a prisoner was brought to trial in England under the reign of Charles I. And throughout the proceedings, the condemned man remained calm and unconcerned. The sentence of death was passed. He produced a piece of paper from his pocket. It was the King's full pardon. With that, his pocket. With that in his pocket, he didn't fear anything. So on The Day of Judgment of which there's going to be. And every person here will stand before that great judgment, except those that are in Christ. And that'll be before another judgment, the judgment seat of Christ. But on this great day of judgment called the White Throne Judgment, you will stand and you will have to give an account of everything that you have ever done, everything that you have ever thought. All your thoughts and intents will be there on the screen for the whole universe to see. And you'll say, I forgot that. I forgot that. Oh, God, I forgot that. I swept that under the rug. I thought I'd forgotten it. My conscience didn't even bother me anymore about it. But if we have Christ's free pardon in our pocket, we don't have to be afraid of anything. At the Passover, when I see the blood, I'll pass over. He said to the people in Egypt, the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, was shed on the cross for us. And it was the right type of blood to cleanse and to infuse all with his life. Modern medical science is a wonderful boon for modern society. But we have to realize that Even in the 1990s, a CAT scan may spot a malignancy or a malfunction in your body. But only the blood of Christ, God's Son, can wash the evil that afflicts your heart and your life. That's the reason the cross is so important. Antibiotics can kill disease, but only the blood of Christ, God's Son, can blot out transgressions. Laser surgery can be used to remove a tumor on the brain. But only the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, can purge your conscience and it's guilt. Have you come to Christ? Oh, you say, Mr. Graham, I've been baptized. I've been confirmed. I've done everything I believe I'm supposed to do religiously. That's not the question we're talking about. Do you know Christ for yourself? Have you been to the cross personally and repented of your sins and received him as your Lord and your Savior? Tylenol or Bufferin or one of those drugs can banish a headache. But only the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, can. Can heal your heartache. Radar can guide a pilot in his plane through stormy weather. But only by the cleansing of the blood of Christ can we get through the storm clouds of life. And you are facing some storm clouds in your life tonight. Heartache, Disappointment. Loneliness. Whatever your problem, come to the cross. There's life in the cross. There's life in the blood. There's transforming power in the blood that was shed there for you. Sounds crazy in a way, doesn't it? It's very difficult to think it through, but that's what the Bible teaches, and by faith we accept it. And by faith, I have come myself to that cross and I've received him as my Lord and my Savior. And I left that place that night knowing that my sins were gone. I didn't know what had happened. The speaker had spoken, had proclaimed a message similar to this. And I came and made that commitment because Jesus said, if you're not willing to acknowledge me openly before men, I'll not acknowledge you before my Father, which is in heaven. I'm going to ask you to do what we've seen hundreds and even several thousand already do in this crusade. I'm going to ask you to get up out of your seat and come and stand in front of the platform and say, by coming, I open my heart. I'm ready to turn from my sins if God will help me. I acknowledge that I've sinned. I want to be cleansed. I want to be free from the torment of my guilt. I want to know I'm going to heaven. I want the joy and the peace and the satisfaction that Christ can bring me. Tonight I want you to get up out of that seat, wherever you are. If you're with friends or relatives, they'll wait on you. Or if you come with a group, maybe you can bring your friend with you. But come and after you've all stood here, I'm going to have a prayer with you, say a word to you, give you some literature that will help in your Christian life. You get up and come. Last night, Most more than 1,200 people came to make their commitment to Christ. Tonight you come and join them and say, I'm going to open my heart and let him come in and take all of me.