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The Death and Resurrection of Christ

On a rainy night in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Billy Graham talked about another dark day: the day Jesus died on the cross. Hear him recount that event—and how it’s still relevant to us today.
“The Lord is not only tender and merciful and full of compassion, but He is also the God of justice, holiness and wrath…Compassion is not complete in itself, but must be accompanied by inflexible justice and wrath against sin and a desire for holiness. What stirs God most is not physical suffering but sin. All too often we are more afraid of physical pain than of moral wrong. The cross is the standing evidence of the fact that holiness is a principle for which God would die. God cannot clear the guilty until atonement is made. Mercy is what we need and that is what we receive at the foot of the cross.”
― Billy Graham, The Holy Spirit: Activating God’s Power in Your Life

From our archives, the Billy Graham classics.
My message is going to be brief and my text is going to be Luke the 23rd chapter beginning at verse 42.
Remember me when thou comes into thy kingdom?
And Jesus said unto him barely, I say unto thee today, thou shalt be with me in paradise.
The greatest and most historical event of all of history was when Jesus Christ died on that cross.
And when Christ died on the cross, the lightning flashed, the thunder roar, the darkness came as the nails had gone into the hands of Christ and a spear had gone into his side and the nails through his feet.
And Jesus was hanging between heaven and earth, suffering for us.
The soldiers had taken him out of his prison and they’d put a crimson robe on him.
They had beaten him two or three times and then they took two or three murderers with him.
Two of them in particular who were going to be crucified with him.
And then they took him across Jerusalem and they made each one of them bear a placard or at least a Herald went before them to bear a placard telling of their crimes.
And then Jesus stumbled and fell.
He was weak from the loss of blood and they compelled an African to help him carry his cross.
And as long as the history of man shall go, we will always remember that it was an African that helped Jesus bear his cross.
There are people today that say that Christianity is the white man’s religion, don’t you believe it?
For all of those who believe in Jesus Christ, he belongs to all people.
He came from that part of the world that touches Asia, Africa and Europe, he belongs as much to the African as he does to the European and as much to the European as he does to the Asian Jesus Christ belongs to all people, but an African helped him carry his cross.
And then when they got to gal gather, these soldiers went about their work, nailing the nails in these two murderers and thieves that were being crucified with Jesus were yelling, screaming, crying, but Jesus never uttered a word and they took some medicated wine that acted as a sedative and gave it to the two thieves and they took it and they offered it to Jesus and he refused it because he wanted to drink the very bitter dregs of death in our place for us.
He wanted to suffer all of death showing that God loved the world and God was willing to forgive the sins of the world because of what Christ was doing on that cross, the people that were watching were laughing and sneering.
They said he saved others. Why can’t he save himself? Come on, you worked great miracles.
Why don’t you work one more? You raised Lazarus from the dead.
You raised a widow’s son from the dead. Why can’t you save yourself?
Those blind people did not realize that God had four ordained and predetermined that Jesus Christ was to die, the death of the cross.
And it was only through that death that the world could find forgiveness and salvation.
There is no other name given among men whereby we must be saved. The Apostle.
Paul was an intellectual, one of the most brilliant men that ever lived.
And Paul went to Corinth, pagan intellectual, immoral Corinth, the University center of the ancient world.
And Paul said, I’m determined to know nothing among you said Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
Why did Paul say that? He said that?
Because God has locked up in the cross, the secret of the universe.
The only way that earth can ever find reconciliation with heaven is by way of the cross.
The only way that you can ever get to heaven is by way of the cross.
And if Jesus Christ had not gone to the cross, you could have never had sin forgiven, you could have never gone to heaven.
And the problems of earth would have never had a solution.
Only by the way of the cross, can we find our way back to God?
And that’s why it was important that Jesus stay on the cross because you see man is in rebellion against Adam and Eve rebelled in the Garden of Eden.
And every man since Adam and Eve has broken God’s law and sinned against God.
And as a result of that God and Man are separated and Man’s only way back to God is through Jesus Christ.
Man had broken the law. Man deserve death. He deserved judgment. He deserved hell.
But God said, wait a minute, I’ll give my son, I’ll let him die.
I’ll let him take the judgment and the hell for you.
And if you will put your trust and your faith in my son, I will forgive your sin.
I will change your life. I will give you an inner peace and joy and satisfaction that you would never find in any other way.
So Jesus was dying on that cross for your sins and your sins.
Some people say, why don’t you try to make your gospel relevant?
The most relevant message in the world tonight is the fact that Christ died for you.
He died in your place. He shed his blood for you.
And without that experience, no one can get to heaven. Yes, Jesus Christ died.
And the people laughed and sneered and two people that sneered and laughed the most were these two thieves and murderers that were dying with him.
They were both mocking him. But one of them became strangely silent.
And finally this one that was silent, turned and rebuked the other thief in the other murderer and said, we are dying justly.
We deserve to be crucified but not this man in the middle. He’s a good man.
He’s the son of God.
Then he turned to him and asked him what seemed to be an improbable, an impossible question.
He said, remember me when thou comet into thy kingdom? Will you remember me? Lord?
And then Jesus gave one of the most astounding answers in the history of the world.
The angels in heaven must have been shaken and startled and amazed when they heard what Jesus answered.
Jesus said today, today thou shalt be with me in paradise. Think of it.
Here was a thief, a murderer, a man that had committed every crime in the books dying turns to Jesus in his dying moment and says, Lord, remember me?
He didn’t even say, forgive me. He didn’t even say Lord take me to heaven with you.
He didn’t say Lord prefer me.
He just said, Lord, remember me and Jesus and said quick as a flash and said, today, thou shalt be with me in paradise.
And to all of you people that think you can’t be converted in a moment and that you cannot be saved at this hour.
And at this moment in this rain in Baton Rouge and have your whole life transformed.
You read the stories of The New Testament and the encounters that people had with Jesus.
There are many of you that came here tonight in this rain that never dreamed that you were going to meet Jesus.
You came out of curiosity or you came because your bus was already on the way.
Or you had already promised some friends to come or you’re a student here at the university and you came out of curiosity.
Many of the people of the New Testament that came to Jesus never planned it.
They never thought that they would have their lives changed.
This thief on the cross that had been in prison knew that he was going to die on a cross.
He knew he deserved it. He never dreamed that before the night came, that day, he would be in heaven.
He deserved judgment. He deserved hell.
I’m going to see that man in heaven someday by the grace of God.
He wasn’t saved by his good works. He didn’t even have time to be baptized.
He didn’t have time for anything but he’s in heaven.
That’s the grace and the mercy of God.
And I want to tell you that the greatest word in all the language of men is forgiveness.
That day, Jesus forgave him of every sin he had ever committed.
Wipe the slate clean and he was in heaven.
There are three things about this passage, the whole Gospel is in it. There’s repentance.
It’s the only deathbed repentance in the whole Bible.
I don’t know what led this fellow to ask that question or to make that statement.
It might have been the prayer that Jesus had just prayed, father, forgive them.
They know not what they do. It might have been what Jesus had said to John, concerning his mother.
I don’t know what it is or what it was, but the Holy Spirit used it.
The Holy Spirit used it to convict him and to convince him that he needed Jesus and he repented of his sins at that moment and he was saved.
I can imagine the other thief saying, why, what have you done?
Have you preach us something? You remember, we strangled that old merchant for his gold.
Remember you kidnapped that little child? Remember that girl you raped? Remember that person? You slew.
You think God’s gonna forgive you or you turn a preacher? He can’t forgive you.
I don’t care what your sin is. I don’t care how deep in sin you’ve gone.
I don’t care what you’ve done. God can forgive you. God can cleanse you.
God can make you a new person tonight.
If you put your faith and your trust in Him, yes, he repented.
And the second thing he did was to believe the Bible says, if we believe in our heart, that God hath raised him from the dead, we shall be saved.
The scripture says believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
But as many as received him to them, gave him power to become the sons of God.
Even to them that believe on his name just repent and believe and then you’ll be saved.
He said, when thou comes into thy kingdom, as though he were thinking of some far off kingdom age somewhere.
And Jesus answered and said today right now, you’ll be saved right now. You can have eternal life.
You can put your trust and your confidence in Christ now. And he did.
And that day he went to paradise. Now, it’s the word.
Remember that I want you to think about a moment. He said, Lord, remember me?
Did you know that God forgets, did you know that there’s a scripture in Jeremiah 31 34 that says, I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sins no more.
God can forget. God can forget your sins. What does God forget?
God never forgets the universe. He sends the rain. Yes, sir.
God sends the rain but the rain falls on the just and the unjust, the sun comes up on the just and the unjust God blesses all of us with all of His blessings.
He never forgets. Suppose he forgot the sun rain. Suppose the sun ceased to shine.
The earth would turn into a glacier.
Suppose God would forget because the scripture says that God holds the whole universe together and if God ever took his hand off, it would blow to pieces.
And then the scripture says that God remembers you tonight.
I had in my little office here where I see people, a lady and her Children and a mother and their son and their husband is a prisoner in North Vietnam.
I don’t think any of us will ever know what these families have suffered.
I don’t think any of us will ever know what those boys out there have probably gone through psychologically and physically never knowing.
And then we had another one come and see us tonight and her husband, she’s just found out is a, is alive and a prisoner.
But for a long time, she didn’t know he was only missing in action.
But let me tell you this, God remembers them and when we bow our heads in the little office and prayed that God would remember them, that His grace and his love would reach out to North Vietnam to the prison camp and touch them.
God remembers them and God answers prayer. How many times has God been with you?
You don’t even know because you see, you almost had a wreck the other day, but you were saved from it.
Why when you get to heaven, you may find out why it might have been divine intervention.
And that happens to all of us.
God remembers you and then God never forgets our sins either.
The Bible says be sure your sin will find you out.
The Bible says, God is not mocked for whatsoever a man so that shall He also reap.
The Bible says, for God shall bring every free work into judgment.
God is going to judge every sin that’s ever been committed.
What is your sin that so easily beset you?
It’s going to be brought to light all the secret things God is going to judge it.
God never forgets sin. No sin has ever been forgotten by God.
God has recorded everything you’ve ever done and all the things you’ve ever thought from the time you were born till the time you die.
It’s all there. It’s all in the record books and God will never forget nothing is going to be forgotten.
How do you stand before God? But there’s one thing God can forget.
He can forget sin because of Christ.
The Bible says in second Corinthians 5 21 he has made him to be sin for us.
It says in Isaiah 53 the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all it says in first Peter 2 24 who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree.
The scripture teaches that God can forget our sins because of Christ, the sin that would damn us the sin that would send us to judgment, the sin that would send us to hell.
God can forget in Hebrews 13. It says your sins are purged in Isaiah 43.
It says your sins are blotted out in Psalm one oh three. It says your sins are put away.
Isaiah 38 says your sins are put behind his back and in Hebrews, it says, God can remember your sin no more.
Ladies and gentlemen, because Christ died because he rose again because of what he did.
God cannot remember my sin. I’ve committed plenty of sins in my life.
And even if I had only committed one sin in my whole life, it’s enough to cause me to go to the judgment and be lost because I could keep the whole law and yet offend in one point and I’d be guilty of all, but God has forgotten my sin.
He forgot every sin that I have ever come, committed everyone. He has forgotten.
He’s the only person in the whole universe that can forget. He has the ability to forget.
Has he forgotten your sin? Have you brought your sin and laid it to the feet of Jesus?
What a night to give your life to Christ? You may never have another moment like this.
The Bible says, he that hardened his heart, being often reproved shall suddenly be cut off.
And that without remedy, you’ve sat here for over two hours in the rain.
Many of you are soaked all the way through and you’ve done it because you want your sins forgiven.
Many of you and others of you have sat here because you’re praying for somebody that needs Christ and this is your hour and your moment and may never come again like this.
I’m going to ask you to do something that I saw people in London.
Do I saw people in San Diego? Do I saw people in Pittsburgh? Do.
I’m going to ask scores of you to get up out of your seat right now and come across this field in the rain and stand here.
And by coming, say, I want Christ in my life, I want my sin. Give him.
I want to know I’m going to heaven.
I want to know that I will not be at the judgment.
In that final day, I want my life transformed by the power of Christ.
I’m going to ask you to come right now. Men, women, young people. God has spoken to you.
You need Christ and in a moment like this, you’ll never forget it.
I’m at a missionary out in the far east a few months ago said I received Christ one of those nights at Wembley Stadium in the pouring rain in England and stood ankle deep in mud to find Christ and said, I thank God because if it hadn’t been for the rain, I don’t know whether I would have come that night or not.
But he said there was something about the challenge of coming forward in the rain that challenged me and it changed my life.
Yes, it’s not easy to come.
But Christ went to the cross for you and many people are on the way now.
You get up and come and make your commitment to Christ.
As hundreds are responding to Mister Graham’s invitation to make a public commitment to Jesus Christ.
You can make that same commitment right?
Where you are, just pick up the phone and call the number you see on your screen.
Special friends are waiting to talk with you and pray with you about this most important decision.
I also say a word to all of you that have come, you’ve come tonight to make your commitment to Christ because you want your sins forgiven.
You want to know you’re going to heaven.
You want a new direction in your life and you’ve come to make a commitment to Christ because you want him to forget your sin and save your soul.
Well, I want to tell you He remembers you and he loves you and he wants to forgive you.
He loves you. Keep that in mind now that God loves you and is willing to forgive and forget all the past.
And from tonight on there are four things that are very important. First read your Bible every day.
We’re going to give you a Gospel of John.
We want you to read it several times before you read any other part of the Bible.
We’re going to give you a Bible study. We’re going to give you some verses of scripture, to learn memorize.
This helps you to grow desire, the sincere milk of the word that you may grow there by the scripture says, you cannot grow in the Christian life without reading and studying the scriptures every day.
Secondly, pray, God will hear and answer your prayer. You’re his child. Now he loves you.
Take every detail to God in prayer. He will answer your prayers. Don’t let a day go by.
But what you spend a few minutes every, every morning, every evening and all during the day in prayer and pray about everything, whatever the details are, nothing is too small to bring to God’s attention.
And then thirdly witness for Christ, how do you witness?
You’re witnessed by the smile on your face, you’re witnessed by the new attitude you have in the dormitory, the new attitude, you have to work, the new attitude you have in the home.
And then you’re witnessed by going to somebody of another race and going out of your way to be kind and courteous and gracious.
And people will soon say, well, what’s happened to you, Mary? And you can say, well, I’ve found Christ.
He’s changed my life that’s witnessing.
And then fourthly get into a church where Christ is preached and get to work for Christ, get into the church and work in the church you say, but I don’t like to go to church.
Jesus went to the church. Of his day and they weren’t all they were supposed to be, but he did it to set us an example that we should go to church.
Four things, read the Bible, pray witness and go to church.
Now I’m going to ask that we bow our heads and I want you to pray this prayer out loud after me.
Oh God, I am a sinner. I’m sorry for my sin.
I’m willing to turn from my sin. I receive Christ as savior.
I confess him as Lord.
From this moment on, I want to follow him and serving in the fellowship of his church in Christ’s name.
Amen. 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 28201.
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.
It’s Ann She’s in trouble.
If you don’t take it to the edge, every chance you get, you’re dead already. Baby.
I was in trouble and I didn’t know what to do.
Well, the juice I knew that I could take on the world.
It’s like you’re in a dream but not really a dream. This is a reality.
I don’t really believe in all this, but I know something crazy is happening right now.
Tonight, I am glad to tell you as we close that the Lord Jesus Christ can be received.
Your sins were given. The Billy Graham library is a place for all walks of life to recharge reflect, renew your faith.
And ok.