And we're going to turn our attention today to one of those discussions. Our recorded message features Franklin Graham, the son of Dr. Billy Graham, who's gone on to his eternal reward in heaven. Franklin is going to share the heart of the Gospel of Jesus Christ today. If you've just stumbled on to our broadcast today and maybe you didn't even intend to hear what we're saying, and you've never fully understood who Jesus Christ is, you're going to hear it today.
Franklin Graham is going to explain what Christ came to do for every human being who ever lived who is willing to believe and trust on Him.
Franklin Graham: I just want to say a couple of words tonight from God's word. Have you ever thought that maybe time is running out? Have you ever thought that maybe there isn't any hope? I want to look at a man in the Bible, a man whose time was running out and had no hope. I want to look at a passage of scripture, and it's in Mark, the Gospel of Mark, and it's in chapter 10 starting in verse 46.
"Now they came to Jericho. As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging. Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry and say, "Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me!" Then many warned him to be quiet, to shut up, but he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" So Jesus stood still, commanded him to be called. And they called the blind man, saying to him, "Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you."
Throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus. So Jesus answered and said to him, "What do you want Me to do for you?" The blind man said to Him, "Rabbi, that I may receive my sight." Then Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your faith has made you well." And immediately he received his sight and he followed Jesus on the road."
Now, Jesus was coming through Jericho, and He was on his way out when this encounter took place. Bartimaeus, he was blind. And maybe you're here tonight and you feel that your time is running out. And that maybe you're here tonight and you feel like you have absolutely no hope. Well, I'm going to give you an invitation tonight. If you're here tonight, you can have a new life. You can have your past erased. You can be forgiven of your sins. You can have a new life and a new beginning starting tonight, and that's through faith in God's son Jesus Christ.
You see, the Bible says all of us have sinned. We've all come short of God's glory. The Bible tells us that the penalty of sin is death. The entire human race is under a death sentence from God. We're all guilty. Franklin Graham stands before you guilty. I'm a sinner. But I was 22 years old when one night I got on my knees and I said, "God, I have sinned. Forgive me. I want to turn from those sins, and I believe that Jesus Christ is your son. I believe that he died for my sins, and I believe that you raised him to life."
And that night, I gave my life to Christ. God forgave my sins. He healed my heart, my life. And that night, I became a child of the living God. Tonight, you can have your sins forgiven. You can become a child of the living God, and you can have that hope of eternal life. God's got a plan and God's got a purpose. And you think, "Well, time's running out." Let me tell you something, when you give your life to Jesus Christ, time doesn't run out. You see, time goes for eternity in the presence of Almighty God. And maybe you're here and you think there's no hope.
"God won't forgive me." Oh yes, he will forgive you if you're willing to come to him through his son Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "I'm the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the father but by me." There's not many ways to God. There's not many roads to God. There's only one road, and it goes to the cross, because Jesus Christ came from heaven and he came and He took our sins. And He went to that cross. He was nailed on a cross for our sins. He died on the cross. He was buried for our sins. But on the third day, God raised His son to life.
Jesus isn't dead. He's alive. He's here tonight in Medford right now. He's here. Bartimaeus, let's talk about him for a minute, he's a blind guy. The only job he could find was begging. They didn't have schools for the handicap. They didn't have any clinics that he could go to. There was no education. He could get. He was blind. In his blindness, he couldn't see his filth. He couldn't see his rags, nor could he see beauty. But you see, outside of Jesus Christ, we are spiritually blind.
The Bible says, "You say I'm rich. I've acquired wealth, and I don't need a thing." But the Bible says, "You don't realize that you're wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked." The Bible says, "The God of this age, the devil has blinded the minds of those that don't believe." Now, Bartimaeus was poor. Regardless of your earthly possessions, we're all poor without God. Doesn't matter what you have or who you are. You're spiritually poor outside of Jesus Christ. What makes us poor? What makes us poor to God?
Sin. Sin is a robber. It robs your life. It robs your relationship with God. It separates you from God. All of us are guilty and we're blinded by the God of this age, the devil who deceives us and lures us into sin. Oh, he promises you fun. Oh, he says excitement. Going out and sinning is great. Oh, you can have fun for a while. You can go to parties, and you can have men and women and whatever and drink and drugs.
But there's this emptiness, this hollowness in your life, and the drugs and the money and the sex just doesn't fill that vacuum, that void in your life. You say, "But Franklin, what do you mean by sin?" We live in the new millennium. We're a more progressive culture today than we were years ago. We could do things that we couldn't have done maybe 30, 40, 50 years ago. So what do you mean by sin? First of all, God's standards don't change. They don't change yesterday. They're not going to change today.
They're not going to change tomorrow, and they're not going to change a million years from now. His laws are the same today, yesterday, and forever. You say, "Okay, you say we're guilty. What are they?" Stealing. Have you ever stolen anything? "Well, when I was little, I took a couple of quarters out of my mother's purse. Does that count?" Yeah, that counts. Put the quarters back and tell her you're sorry. Give her interest. Taking God's name in vain. Using the Lord's name in vain is a sin against him. Worshiping idols.
Oh, you say, "But Franklin, we don't really get into that around here." Oh really? Well, let me tell you, the music industry has many idols that young people worship and adore. Sports. Yeah, that's right. You say, "But Franklin, is there anything wrong with..." No, there's nothing wrong with that. It's just how we allow that to be placed in our life. When it becomes the most important thing in your life, then that's a problem. It's an idol. Lying is a sin. Have you ever told a lie? You say, "Well, no, I haven't done that."
Now you're lying right now. We laugh because we know we're guilty, right? All of us. Adultery. Any type of sexual relationship outside of a marriage relationship is a sin. Now let me say about marriage relationship. A marriage relationship is defined by God. I don't define it. Your state government doesn't define it. Washington doesn't define it. A marriage relationship is a man and a woman. Okay? That's how God defines it. God made us male and he made us female. He didn't make us anything in between. We're male and female.
That's the way God made us. But any type of sexual relationship outside of a marriage relationship is a sin. Now, there are many of you who are guilty of sexual relationships, sexual sins, and you've been wondering, "Will God cleanse me and forgive me? I carry a lot of guilt with that." Of course, He will. That's why He sent Jesus Christ to die on the cross was for our sins. He took our sins when He went to the cross.
And if we're willing to repent, turn, leave it, what happens is a lot of people say, "Okay, I'll be glad to come to Jesus. But Jesus, I want to continue to live in sin." No, you come to Christ, you've got to be willing to turn your back. He requires repentance. And you've got to be sorry for your sins and willing to leave and turn from those sins and to trust Jesus Christ by faith. Murder. You say, "Murder?" How about abortion? You say, "Well, Franklin, you're stepping on some people's toes here." Okay, listen to me.
I was invited a few years ago…I was being interviewed by a magazine from New York, and this lady was interviewing me. I thought it would be about a 30 minute interview. Like two hours later, she's still asking me questions. So I said... And we were in San Antonio, Texas down next to the river at a Mexican restaurant. And there was a long table. There was a bunch of us there. I thought just to kind of break things up a little bit, I was like, "Can I ask you a question?" And she said, "Of course." She had her glasses on and she took them off and she listened very politely.
I asked her, I said, "Are your sins forgiven?" And then all of a sudden, a tear began to come into her eyes. And she said, "I'm not sure." I said, "Did you know that God loves you and that he sent his son from heaven to this earth to die for your sins? And have you ever invited Christ to come into your heart to change your heart, to forgive you, to cleanse you?" She said, "No, I haven't." I said, "Would you like to do that?" Now the tears are coming down her cheeks. She said, "Yes, I would great." Great. Would you like to do it right now? I'll lead you in a prayer.
Same prayer I'm going to pray with you tonight. She bowed her head and I said, "Just repeat this after me." I said, "Dear God." She said, "Dear God." I said, "I'm a sinner." She repeated that. "I'm sorry for my sins." She repeated that. "I want to turn from my sins." She repeated that. "I believe that Jesus Christ is your son." She repeated that. "I believe that he died for my sins and that you raised him to life." She repeated that. "And tonight I want to invite him to come into my heart." She repeated that. We prayed this prayer together.
And after we prayed this prayer, tears are just streaming down her cheeks. She said, "I have to confess something to you." I said, "You don't have to confess anything to me. You just confess your sins to God, and he has forgiven you." She said, "No, I have to say this." She said, "20 years ago I had an abortion. Will God forgive me for what I did?" I said, "He just did." She said, "It's haunted me all of my life. Every birthday, every anniversary I think about what that child would have been. Five, six years of age, getting ready to go to school.
What their first day of school would have been like. 13, being a teenager. 18, when they would have had their first date. It's haunted me. Will God forgive me?" And I just looked at her and I took her hands. I said, "He's forgiven you. Not only has He forgiven you, but He's erased it. There's no record of it. You're forgiven. He's cleansed you." And she began to sob. Now, these were not tears now of bitterness or of a bitter heart. This was now tears of relief.
She just buried her face into her hands, and she just sobbed, thanking God for forgiving her sins and changing her life right there in an instant. And He'll do that for you tonight. He'll forgive you and cleanse you. All of us have sinned, the bible says. All of us are guilty. Every one of us. And we've come short, the bible says, of God's glory. And that the wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. The Bible tells us that "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.
That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but should have ever lasting life." Jesus came to save sinners. He took our sins to the cross. He died for our sins. He was buried for our sins. And on the third day, God raised him to life. Now, Bartimaeus was hopeless. No one could help him. And maybe that's how you feel tonight, that there's no hope. Why do people commit suicide? Because of hopelessness. Or use drugs and alcohol? Because of hopelessness. There's evidence of hopelessness wherever we turn.
Bartimaeus was hopeless. No one could cure his blindness. He expected to die in his blindness. There was no doctors. There was no clinics. There was no medicine. There was nothing. And there's nothing you can do to rid yourself of sin. You can't buy your way to God. Good works won't do it. The Bible says, "By grace are you saved through faith, not of works. Lest any man should boast." "There is no one righteous," the Bible says. No, not one. And we're dead in our trespasses and sins. All of us are guilty. There is no hope for you tonight outside of Jesus Christ.
And you see, Bartimaeus had absolutely no hope until this commotion. He's a beggar. Just get this picture in your mind. He's sitting on the side of the road and here comes this large crowd and people are talking and people are getting up and running. Bartimaeus says, "What's going on? What's happening?" Jesus of Nazareth, he's coming by. Now, Bartimaeus had heard about Jesus. He had heard about this strange man from Galilee that could raise the dead. The lame could walk. The deaf good hair. Bartimaeus realized that he had this one chance.
Now, what would happen at Bartimaeus had said, "I think I'm going to listen to CNN tonight and see what they have to say, or I'm going to get a friend of mine to maybe Google "Jesus" and see what Google has to say, or maybe I'll just wait until he comes back maybe next time. Maybe I can meet him then." No. Bartimaeus yelled at the top of his lungs, "Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me." People said, "Bartimaeus, shut up. Nobody wants to hear from a blind beggar like you. Just keep on begging. Don't make a scene and embarrass all of us, Bartimaeus.
You're going to make a fool of yourself, Bartimaeus." The more they rebuked him, the louder he shouted. "Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me." Jesus stood still. Now there are a lot of people probably saying, "Hey Jesus, over here. Jesus, let's have a selfie, Jesus." I mean, remember there's a large crowd of people. You think Bartimaeus is the only person yelling, Jesus? A lot of people were yelling Jesus. Jesus this. Jesus that. But they weren't calling in faith. See, Bartimaeus believed in his heart that Jesus could heal him.
But the question was, would he? And so he yells, "Jesus, thou Son of David." He's acknowledging that Jesus is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. "Thou Son of David, have mercy on me." And Jesus stops. Why? Because he called his name in faith, and he'll stop for you tonight if you call his name and faith. If you say, "Jesus have mercy on me, I'm a sinner. Forgive me," he will stop for you tonight. That same Jesus of Galilee 2,000 years ago is here right now. And Jesus said calling. Remember, Jesus was coming through Jericho...
Leaving Jericho. Going out of town on his way to Jerusalem. He was going and to go to the cross where he would shed his blood on the cross for your sins. They would nail him to that cross. And when He was nailed to that cross, it wasn't the Jews or the Romans that nailed Him there. It was your sins that took Him to the cross. That's right. Your sins. He died for you, for me. He's nailed to that cross. Jesus is on his way to the cross. He's not coming back to Jericho. Bartimaeus wouldn't have had another chance. Time was running out and Bartimaeus knew it.
Do you realize your time is running out? He calls at the top of his lungs, "Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me." Jesus stops, calling. Is he calling you tonight. As I've been speaking, has there been a little voice inside of you saying, "You need to do this tonight because time is running out." Bartimaeus came to Jesus. Ran to him. I bet you, Jesus had a big smile because Jesus was loving this. "Bartimaeus, what do you want me to do for you?" Jesus knows that you need to be forgiven. He knows all about your sins.
He knew Bartimaeus was blind, but he wanted to hear it from Bartimaeus' lips. And if you're willing tonight to call in the name of Jesus and say, "I'm a sinner, and I'm sorry. Forgive me. And I believe that you took my sins to the cross, and I believe that you were buried for my sins. That God raised you to life. And I want to invite you to come into my heart tonight. I want to surrender the control of my life to you. I want you to be my Lord. I want you to be my master. I want you to be my savior."
Bartimaeus standing there before Jesus, "What do you want me to do for you?" "Lord, that I may receive my sight." Jesus said, "Go your way. Your faith has made you well." You see, he believed that Jesus could heal him. He believed that Jesus had the power as the son of God to change his life. And if you're willing to believe, your faith tonight in the Lord Jesus Christ will set you free. You can be forgiven tonight. That past, it doesn't matter what it is, he'll erase it. That's right. He'll forgive you.
And when God forgives you, He erases, He erases your past. And tonight, starting tonight, right now, you're going to have a new beginning. That's right. A new beginning. But you have to make a decision. See, Bartimaeus had to make a decision. Jesus said, "Call him." What if he just said, "Nah, I think I'll just sit here for a while." Jesus would have walked right on. You see, He's not going to force you to put your faith in Him. He's not going to force you to get out of your seat tonight. He's calling you right?
If you're willing to come to Him and faith, to trust Him, He'll forgive you tonight, but you have got to be willing to repent, to turn from your sins, and by faith to believe on the name of Jesus Christ tonight. Bartimaeus believed and he was healed. And the Bible says he followed him. And tonight, are you willing to follow the Lord Jesus Christ? God loves you. He made you. He created you, but we have been separated by sin. And so tonight, if you would like to put your faith and trust in Christ, I want you to do something right now.
If you've never done this before, just get up out of your seat, make your way to an aisle. What I'd like us to do, all of us to stand right now. Make it easier for people to come out. But if you're here tonight and you want to be set free from sin, if you want a new life and a new beginning, just get up and come right now. You're not coming to Franklin Graham. I can't save you. You're coming tonight to God, through faith in his son Jesus Christ. Just get up and come wherever you are. Just come on. You may be young. You may be old.
It doesn't matter. But you're not coming to me. You're coming to God through faith in His son Jesus Christ.
Dr. James Dobson: Well, this is James Dobson again. You've been listening to Franklin Graham giving a message that I believe was probably spoken a thousand times by his father. And it is still highly relevant and still has power. Hope you've enjoyed the program today. If you have any questions about this message, give us a call at 877-732-6825. We'll be glad to talk to you.
Announcer: This has been a presentation of the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute.
Roger Marsh: Hey, everyone. Roger Marsh here. When you think about your family and where they will be when you're no longer living, are you worried? Are you confident? Are you hopeful? What kind of legacy are you leaving for your children and their children? Here at Family Talk, we're committed to helping you understand the legacy that you're leaving for your family. Join us today at drjamesdobson.org for helpful insights, tips, and advice from Dr. James Dobson himself. And remember, your legacy matters.