Obstacles to Heaven | Bill Graham Classic Sermon

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“Special Strength is Coming” from Billy Graham

From our archives, The Billy Graham classics.
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 want you to turn with me to The 19th chapter of Luke Luke.
The 19th chapter and a very simple little story that many of you have heard since childhood.
I’ll read it to you The 19th chapter, the 1st 10 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 Zaki’s which was the chief among the publicans. And he was very rich.
And this man sought to see Jesus who he was, but he could not for the press because he was little of stature.
And he ran before and climbed up into a sycamore 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, Zack, here’s 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 was gone to be the guest with a man that is a sinner.
And Zakia stood and said unto the Lord behold Lord behalf of the goods I give to the poor.
And if I’ve taken anything from any man by false accusation I restore him fourfold.
And jesus said unto him this day is salvation come to this house.
For as much as he also is a Son of Abraham, For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost.
And that’s one of the key verses and all the new testament that 10th first.
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 Bard Amis and he heals him.
And has that tremendous experience where Barney Mays was saying, Help the blind, help the blind, help the blind.

And as jesus passed by, he cried out, he said, who is this passing by?
And somebody stopped and said, Jesus of Nazareth, pass it by and he screamed out, Jesus, son of David, have mercy upon 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 of 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 opportunity that you will ever have to make certain of your own personal relationship to God.
And then, as he was going out of Jericho, Jericho relatively small town, there was another man that wanted to see Jesus and his name was Zach ius, and he meets Jesus going out of the town.
Now Zacky is was about the most hated man in 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 his 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 Zaki’s had climbed up in.
Now Zack kiss was a lonely man, he didn’t have any friends and there are many lonely people here tonight.
Friends that misunderstand you and loved ones that have betrayed you and you 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 had heard the enemies of jesus say that he was a devil or he was a finance or he was a blasphemer.
He was a heretic or he was an impostor.
Maybe it 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 Zaki is 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 stick their foot out and make him stumble and fall.
He was trying to run as fast as he could probably if he lived today he’d have an instamatic camera with him to get a picture of jesus like my wife does.
She has one and uh I enjoyed married life before she got it and I enjoy it now.
She made one of me the other day and called 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 and maybe on a christmas card, I don’t know And Zac, yes, would have had a tape recorder and I remember when we went hungry and the first service we had several 1000 people, about 15 or 20,000 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, 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, Zaki’s 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 to, he faced the obstacles of being so, so many people, they’re so small of statue and I imagine he was sitting up there on that limb with that tape recorder on the camera, he wanted to get everything that jesus said, he was so interested.
You two 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, what shall a man profit if he gains the whole world and lose 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 to find a city whose builder and maker was God by faith, and then their secret sins that become obstacles to come into 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 what he sees on the 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’re a hypocrite and you’re ashamed of it, 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 appear in their own eyes and yet is not washed from their filthy nous, self righteous, like the hypocrites of jesus dead.
Now, Zacky is was sitting up there, he had 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 come to this meeting out of curiosity, many of you, many of you came because somebody brought you, but many came out of just sheer curiosity.
We heard about a man the other night that was on his way past on the on the highway and he saw the lights on I think it was in one of the papers and one of the other papers that 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 halfway through the service but he gave his life to christ and he tells him the paper the joy that he found in jesus christ that can happen to you.
And so he called Zakia Zaki’s come down the crowd murmurs and they still do when you eat with sinners or try to reach those who are on the other side of the track, jesus tears the hide off religious sinners, but he treats other sinners with tenderness and love.
You see the argument and the debate that Jesus had was not even with the roman empire.
His debate was with the religious leaders who will not live 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 into 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 promise 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 Zaki’s home, probably took Matthew with him because Matthew had been a publican too and a tax gatherer and Jesus had said follow me and Matthew had gotten up and follow and maybe he took Matthew with him to give his testimony to Zacky is I don’t know but Zaki’s probably was very proud that he 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 in the grass and all everything.
He was so proud of it all.
But jesus probably just stood there looking at Zach here and Iraqis began to wonder 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 that were suffering, those that were poor didn’t have anything that Zaki’s had stolen from and cheated.
Zaki’s began, 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 that 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 are two types of joy. There is 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.
Zakia stood and said unto the Lord in front of all the people, Jesus said, who suffer therefore shall confess me before men him will I confess before my father which is in heaven.
That’s the reason I asked people to come forward to make their commitment to christ publicly.
Every person that jesus called in the new testament including Zaki’s, it was public in front of other people.
He said if you’re not willing to acknowledge me before my father, I will not acknowledge you.
If you’re not wanting to acknowledge me before your friends and other people, I will not acknowledge you before my father, wouldn’t it be terrible to get there and jesus would not even know us and he says they’re going to be many people that will say, but Lord I did this for you and Lord I did that and I did that.
But he said I never knew 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 that would be real and the purpose of jesus coming to the world was to seek and to save people like Zakia who were lost and many of you tonight, a 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. But 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 lived 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 called 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 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 thinking about christ and about God and about yourself it means to live a new kind of a life, it means that 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, did you say? Oh Lord, I’m sorry that’s not repentance. Oh Lord, I’ve sinned.
That’s not repentance. It means a change all things have 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, 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, you put your strength in, you put your 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’s a doubt in your heart tonight that you’re 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 have 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 the telephone are watching by television, pick up that telephone and call and there’ll be a counselor to talk to you right now and you can make the same commitment that people are going to make here.
And 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 up there, it takes about two minutes so start now if you’re 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’s 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.
Mhm.
As you can see many hundreds are making their way forward here in the tangerine bowl to commit their life to jesus christ and we hope that you’ll do the same while you’re watching this program for spiritual help and counseling, please call the number that’s 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, I’ll write the number down so that you can call it any time throughout this evening, counselors will be there as long as the calls keep coming in.
God bless you. You that have been watching by television, you can see here in Orlando florida and 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 barroom, 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 for those you’ve heard speak tonight, I’ll 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’ll 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 to go to church next sunday.
If 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 that is on the screen.
There’ll 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 18777724559 that’s 1877772 45 59.
Or you can write to us at billy Graham one billy Graham Parkway department c charlotte north Carolina 28 to 01 or you can contact us on the web 24 7 at peace with God dot 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.