Billy Graham Quotes - Page 18

As Christians we have a responsibility toward the poor, the oppressed, the downtrodden, and the many innocent people around the world who are caught in wars, natural disasters, and situations beyond their control.

The Bible teaches that we have a Christian duty to help our neighbors in their time of need. We are called by God to bring the water of life for both soul and body. God created them both, and His purpose is to redeem them both.

Our creativity, our inner sense of right and wrong, our ability to love and to reason—all bear witness to the fact that God created us in His image. The Bible says God “has not left himself without testimony” [Acts 14:17 NIV].

No Christian has the right to go around wringing his hands, wondering what we are to do in the face of the present world situation. The Scripture says that in the midst of persecution, confusion, wars, and rumors of wars, we are to comfort one another with the knowledge that Jesus Christ is coming back in triumph, glory, and majesty.

Subtle persecution may happen to you in your office, school, or social gathering. You may not be “with it,” or be “one of the crowd.” No suffering that the Christian endures for Christ is ever in vain.

If you take a stand [for God] and mean it, you may suffer persecution. Some of your friends will drift away. They don’t want to be with people like you. You speak to their conscience. They feel uncomfortable in your presence because you live for God.

We can take persecution because we know the purpose behind it. The purpose is to glorify God.

While Christians in America have worshipped without the fear or threat of physical abuse for their beliefs, thousands of their brothers in Christ throughout the world have been tortured and martyred for confessing the name of Christ.

In a country where Christians were looked upon with suspicion and disfavor, a government leader said to me with a twinkle in his eye, “Christians seem to thrive under persecution. Perhaps we should prosper them, and then they would disappear.

Throughout the world today there are people who are enduring cruelties and persecution because of their Christian faith. We must pray for them, and for ourselves, so that in our own dying hour God will give us grace to endure until the end, anticipating the certainty of His glory to come.

Persecution may wear an insulting face. Insults may come as a result of a Christian’s lifestyle, which should be different from that of the secular world.

The Bible clearly says that faithfulness and persecution often go hand in hand.

A spirit of thankfulness is one of the most distinctive marks of a Christian whose heart is attuned to the Lord. Thank God in the midst of trials and every persecution.

Bearing our cross does not mean wearing gunny sacks and long faces. Some people . . . wear the look of a martyr every time they hear criticism. Sometimes we deserve the criticism we receive; however, we are blessed only when men speak evil against us falsely for Christ’s sake.

When thanksgiving is filled with true meaning and is not just the formality of a polite “thank you,” it is the recognition of dependence.

We should not covet or expect the praise of ungodly men . . . the very fact that they are inclined to persecute us is proof that we are “not of the world.

Why should we give God thanks? Because everything we have comes from God.

Grumbling and gratitude are, for the child of God, in conflict. Be grateful and you won’t grumble. Grumble and you won’t be grateful.

As you think about the future . . . give thanks and trust God . . . Even when life may be difficult, we should thank God for all He does for us—which we do not deserve.

It is not just becoming a Christian; it is also being a Christian all the time, 24 hours a day.

Time is running out. The seconds are ticking away toward midnight. The human race is about to take the fatal plunge . . . Is there any authority left? Is there a path we can follow? Can we find a code book that will give us the key to our dilemmas? We do have authoritative source material. It is found in the ancient and historic Book we call the Bible.

We are accountable to [God] for the way we use our time.

War is only one facet of the larger problem of evil which has been with the human race since the beginning . . .This same evil tried to destroy the greatest human being who ever lived, nailing Him to a cross.

What is your story? Be ready to share it when the Lord gives you the opportunity.

Be a good witness by the way you live. The way we live is often more convincing than the words we say.

One faithful witness is worth a thousand mute professors of religion . . . Our faith grows by expression . . . we must share it—we must witness.

We witness in two ways: by life and by word . . . God’s purpose . . , after we have been converted is that we be witnesses to His saving grace and power. We are to be commandoes for Christ. We are to be minute-men for Him.

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 Spirit goes ahead of us when we witness— preparing the way, giving us the words, and granting us courage.

The lukewarm Christian can accomplish nothing with a whole life in which to do it. If you have lived for sin and self . . . your witness will have [a] telling effect on all who have known you.

Christians ought to carry written in our hearts the solemn truth of how short is our opportunity to witness for Christ and live for Him.

While separation does not mean disengagement from the world, there are certain activities and places that God clearly wants us to avoid not only to protect ourselves from spiritual harm but so that the witness we have will not be tarnished.

The greatest way to witness is through the life you live. Let the radiance of your Christian life be such that it will make [others] ask questions about your [faith].

I am convinced the greatest act of love we can ever perform for people is to tell them about God’s love for them in Christ.

When Christ’s love fills our hearts, it puts selfishness on the run.

The mystery of God’s love would not be a mystery if we knew all the answers.

I urge new converts to take plenty of time in Bible study and prayer before getting on a public platform to testify.

The unbelieving world should see our testimony lived out daily because it just may point them to the Savior.

We should not let a day go by without thanking God for His mercy and grace to us in Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving is recognition of a debt that cannot be paid. We express thanks, whether or not we are able otherwise to reimburse the giver.

The greatest testimony to this dark world today would be a band of crucified and risen men and women, dead to sin and alive unto God, bearing in their bodies “the marks of the Lord Jesus” [Galatians 6:17 NKJV].

The devil will try to discourage you, to divert you; he will seek to dilute your testimony; he will attempt anything to destroy your relationship to Christ and your influence upon others.

[Satan] has hundreds of agents writing pornographic literature and producing sex movies to pollute [the mind]. He has intellectuals in high positions teaching a hedonistic and permissive philosophy . . .They lack an anchor for their real self.

We are going through a sexual tempest, a bombardment provided by unprecedented exploitation of cheap sex by moviemakers, theater owners, publishers, and producers of pornography. [There is more] openness of talk about sex, acceptance of public nudity . . . homosexuality. Sex revolution, no! But sex pollution? Yes!!

Sex-centered magazines litter our newsstands . . . each edition trying to escape new laws from the bottom of the sewers. We put lids on sewer holes. Ought we not to do something about the pornography which is spewing out a polluted river of filth which can destroy us faster than any chemical pollution we seem so worried about?7

The serious student of the Bible cannot dismiss homosexual behavior simply as an alternate lifestyle. Nor can it be argued that homosexuals were “born this way” or that such behavior is an illness.

The greatest waste in all of our earth is our waste of the time God has given us each day.

Philosophically, war is an extension of man’s struggle with sin and evil in the world.

There is for each man a day, an hour, a minute. The Bible talks in many places about the brevity of life, and the Bible warns that we should be prepared to meet God at all times.

God has given us a message that is not only for past times and this time, but for all time.

Every day has exactly 1,440 minutes; can’t you find even ten of them to be with your heavenly Father? Doesn’t God deserve the best minutes of your day?

God can do more with a few days of your time if given completely to Him, than He can with a whole life characterized by a half-hearted service.

You can trust Christ at this moment. The Bible says, “Now is the accepted time” [2 Corinthians 6:2 KJV]. Don’t put it off. Don’t say, “I’ll think about it.” Don’t say, “I’ll do it tomorrow.” Do it right now. At this moment, say yes to Jesus Christ.

Allow the resurrected Christ to allocate your time as His own . . . and have complete right-of-way throughout your being.

If ever we are to study the Scriptures, if ever we are to spend time in prayer, if ever we are to win souls for Christ, if ever we are to invest our finances for His kingdom—it must be now.

How can men boast that they control their own destiny when they cannot solve the problems of war?

Modern war is the most highly developed of all sciences. We have perfected our weapons but failed to perfect the men who use them.

The Charter of the United Nations said in its preamble: “We the people determined to save succeeding generations from war . . .” Can the United Nations save the world from war? The answer is No! It was conceived and created by statesmen who knew little of the significance of the biblical concept of history and the nature of man. When the perspective is wrong, the whole viewpoint will be wrong.

The Garden of Eden was somewhere in present-day Iraq. The turmoil and war [we are witnessing] in that part of the world . . .is occurring in the land where God established the first perfect civilization.

If the human race would turn from its evil ways and return to God, putting behind its sins of disobedience, idolatry, pride, greed, and belligerence, and all the various aberrations that lead to war, the possibility of peace exists.

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