Billy Graham Quotes - Page 3

The world is heading for another major crisis that is being called, even by the secular world, “Armageddon.

The second coming of Christ will be so revolutionary that it will change every aspect of life on this planet. Christ will reign in righteousness. Disease will be arrested. Death will be modified. War will be abolished. Nature will be changed. Man will live as it was originally intended he should live.

A godlikeness of character is the Christian’s proper heritage in this earthly walk.

Trials and difficulties may assail the life of a believer, but they also have the ability to remold his character and banish from his life those impurities which might impair growth and service.

Consistency, constancy, and undeviating diligence to maintain Christian character are a must if the older generation is to command respect, or even a hearing, from the young.

A few years ago, honesty was the hallmark of a man of good character. But it’s been set aside for an “It’s all right if you don’t get caught” philosophy.

It is unfair to attribute virtues beyond a person’s true character.

Don’t conform to those who have been overwhelmed by the tide of immorality sweeping our country!

Peer pressure accounts for much of the promiscuous sex in high schools and colleges. “Conform or get lost.” Since no one enjoys losing friends or being cast out of his own circle, peer pressure—especially during the years of adolescence—is an almost irresistible force.

From compromise to deceit is a small step.

The apostle Paul urges Christians everywhere in all ages to be nonconformists as far as the world system is concerned. We are not to conform. A true Christian, living an obedient life, is a constant rebuke to those who accept themoral standards of this world.

Thousands of Christians compromise their faith in Jesus Christ by denying Him. Even some clergymen neglect or deliberately refuse to close a public prayer in the name of Jesus for fear of offending an unbeliever. They cannot endure the persecution that may follow an acknowledgment of Jesus Christ.

It is often asked, “How could the early disciples turn the world upside downwhen millions of Christians can’t even keep it right side up today?” The answer is they didn’t conform their faith to match the world. They had the truth, and they refused to water it down. They had a faith that would not compromise.

The apostle Paul said, “Be not conformed to this world.” These words cut like a sharp sword across our way of life. They have the tone of the battle call in them. They separate the weak from the strong. But they are words of inspiration, and we need to hear them today.

Thousands of uninstructed Christians are being deceived today.False teachers use high-sounding wordsthat seem like the epitome of scholarship and culture. They are intellectually clever and crafty . . .adept at beguiling thoughtless, untaught men and women.

It is a tragedy that many of God’s people have conformed themselves to the world and its thinking, rather than being transformed by the renewing of their minds.

God’s purpose for us is that we ought to beconformed to the image of His Son. The world may exert its pressure to deform us, but we are told to “be transformed” [Romans 12:2 NIV].

Pure hearts will be Christlike. It is God’s desire that we be conformed to the image of His Son.

The underlying principle of all Satan’s tactics is deception. He is a crafty and clever camouflager.

Satan’s method has often been to imitate God.Satan is still using this form of deception, and often his representatives are being disguised as ministers of righteousness.

For Satan’s deceptions to be successful, they must be so cunningly devised that his real purpose is concealed by wiles.

We see ourselves as self-sufficient, self-important, and self-sustaining. God sees us as dependent, self-centered, and self-deceived.

Be attractive and winsome, but do not compromise your convictions for the sake of popularity.

When Jesus was tempted, He didn’t debate the devil. He quoted Scripture: “It is written . . . It is written . . . It is written” (Matthew 4:4–10 NKJV). And each time the devil was defeated.

We can’t flee from temptation in our own strength—but God will give us the strength we need, if we’ll only seek it. A friend of mine says, “When the devil knocks, I just send Jesus to the door!

It is not the temptations you have, but the decision you make about them that counts.

Everyone has temptations but some folks entertain them . . .Get your eyes off the temptation and onto Christ!

I know that many of the things I have said from the Scriptures have offended, and I have sometimes been tempted to tone down the message. But, God helping me, I never will! I would become a false prophet. I would also betray my Lord.

Satan is the sower of compromise—leaving a bit of God’s truth into the dirty rags of sin. Satan is the commander in deceit, Satan is the ringleader in rebellion against the faithful.Satan is the sly serpent of temptation.Satan is the false hope of security.Satan is the great pretender.Satan is the great spoiler of everything good.And Satan wants to destroy you.

Every stage of life has its own temptations and dangers, and Satan will do all he can to exploit them . . .the time to prepare is now, not when it arrives.

Be very sure that you do not deliberately place yourself in a position to be tempted.

Be sure that Satan will tempt you at your weak point, not the strong.

Many Christians give in to various temptations through peer pressure and find themselves surrendering to worldly passions, justifying pleasures the world offers.

Don’t savor temptations; don’t dwell on them or toy with them or replay them over and over in your mind. The more you think about a particular temptation, the more enticing it becomes.

All of us are not subjected to the same weaknesses and temptations.To one, alcohol may be the temptation;to another, it may be impure thoughts and acts; to another, greed and covetousness; to another, criticism and an unloving attitude.

Temptation is not a sin. It is the yielding that is sin. All temptation is from the devil.

Only a strong faith—a faith based on God’s Word—will protect us from temptation and doubt.

The Bible is intensely practical, and one of the reasons God gave it to us is so we’ll be better prepared to deal with life’s problems and temptations. All too often we respond to these in ways that don’t reflect Christ . . .when we do that, Satan is the winner and the cause of Christ suffers.

Temptation: Recognize it for what it is, and then reject it—immediately and without compromise.

God never directs in a way contrary to His character. When the Scriptures tell us that He will direct our paths, we can be assured that when He is in control, no matter how thorny the path, He will not tell us to jump off a cliff.

True greatness is not measured by the headlines a person commands or the wealth he or she accumulates. The inner character of a person—the undergirding moral and spiritual values and commitments—is the true measure of lasting greatness.

A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and so is our character.

God’s standard is expressed in the Bible, and the ultimate example of that standard is Jesus Christ. When we live by the truth, we possess integrity.

Integrity means that we are trustworthy and dependable, and our character is above reproach.

Unless men of purpose, integrity, and faith stand together in unswerving loyalty to Jesus Christ, the future of the world is dark indeed.

I believe integrity can be restored to a society one person at a time. The choice belongs to each of us.

Our world today is looking for men and women with integrity, for communicators who back up their ministry with their lives. Our preaching emerges out of what we are. We are called to be a holy people—separated from the moral evils of the world.

The truth is that others judge us. More than that, they evaluate the truth of the Gospel by what they see of our lives and our integrity. [We] must make every effort to be above all suspicion in the matter of finances and statistics. We are not only accountable to God’s people, but also to our Master (see Acts 24:16).

We will be judged according to the secret motives and the character of our work. If we have done our work for selfish motives or personal gain, even if the results looked noble to our friends and family, God knows our hearts.

Hundreds of passages point to a time of judgment for every person who has ever lived—none will escape. If you took all the references to judgment out of the Bible, you would have little Bible left.

Integrity means that if our private life was suddenly exposed, we’d have no reason to be ashamed or embarrassed. Integrity means our outward life is consistent with our inner convictions.

God has already set the date [for judgment]. You may make and break appointments in this life, but this is one appointment you are going to keep.

People judge us not by what we think or believe, but by what we do—and when our lives don’t measure up, we lose their respect and they conclude our faith isn’t real.

I believe that one of the reasons for crime, perversion, and the evils of modern mankind is that we have lost belief in the certainty of God being just, holy, and righteous, and that He will judge the world.

A call for national and individual repentance is urgently needed today, or judgment is certain to fall.

God judges mankind by the standard of the only God-man who ever lived, Jesus Christ. Jesus, the innocent Lamb of God, stands between our sin and the judgment of God the Father.

God’s judgment echoes the sound of hoofbeats, but God’s love quietly convicts.

In character-building and in living the Christian life, concentration is important. The [person] who has a general interest in everything usually isn’t too good at anything.

None of us deserves God’s love. All of us deserve His righteous judgment and wrath (John 3:18, 36; Romans 3:9–12). It is easy to think of an evil and depraved man like Adolf Hitler deserving divine judgment . . .But think of the kind and good people that you know . . .They too will be lost if they refuse and neglect God’s offer of mercy and forgiveness. God’s judgment applies to them too.

One of the real tests of Christian character is to be found in the lives we live from day to day.

Previous 1 2 3 4 5 … 30 Next