- Home
- Speakers
- Billy Graham
- Sin Leads Down
Sin Leads Down
Billy Graham
Billy Graham (November 7, 1918 – February 21, 2018) was an American preacher and evangelist whose global ministry transformed 20th-century Christianity, reaching millions with his message of salvation through Jesus Christ. Born William Franklin Graham Jr. on a dairy farm near Charlotte, North Carolina, to Frank and Morrow Graham, he grew up in a devout Presbyterian family. Converted at 16 during a 1934 revival led by Mordecai Ham, he attended Bob Jones College briefly before transferring to Florida Bible Institute (1937–1940) and graduating from Wheaton College (B.A. in Anthropology, 1943), where he met his wife, Ruth Bell. Ordained a Southern Baptist minister in 1939, he began preaching on radio and at youth rallies with Youth for Christ, gaining early fame. Graham’s preaching career skyrocketed after his 1949 Los Angeles Crusade, a tent revival extended from three to eight weeks due to massive crowds and media attention, launching the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA). Over six decades, he preached to over 210 million people in 185 countries, holding crusades—often broadcast on TV and radio—featuring sermons like “The Hour of Decision” and hits like “Just As I Am.” Advising U.S. presidents from Truman to Obama, he championed civil rights, notably integrating his rallies post-1954, and authored 33 books, including Peace with God (1953). Married to Ruth in 1943, with whom he had five children—Gigi, Anne, Ruth, Franklin, and Ned—he lived modestly in Montreat, North Carolina, until his death at 99 from pneumonia and Parkinson’s disease, buried beside Ruth at the Billy Graham Library.
Download
Topic
Sermon Summary
This sermon emphasizes the importance of heeding God's word and the consequences of disobedience and sin. It warns about the impending judgment for wickedness and the need for repentance, drawing parallels to the current state of the world. The story of Jonah fleeing from God's command is used to illustrate the futility of trying to escape from God's presence and the downward spiral of sin. It highlights the inevitability of facing the consequences of disobedience.
Scriptures
Sermon Transcription
I believe that this book, the Bible, is inspired of God. It's God's book. It's God's message to every generation. The word of the Lord came unto Jonah. And God's word said, Jonah, arise and go to Nineveh. Cry out against Nineveh, for their wickedness has come up before me. There comes a time when God can stand sin and wickedness no more, and judgment must come. That's the danger in America right now. That's the danger in the world right now. Our wickedness is so great that God may allow judgment to fall unless we as a people turn back to God. And that's one of the encouraging things about this youth revival across America. Thank God that the young people are beginning to turn to Christ in great numbers. The word of the Lord came unto Jonah. But you know, Jonah wasn't happy about it. He didn't want to be a fire and brimstone preacher in Nineveh. There was no glamour in that. He knew he would be persecuted. He knew he wouldn't be popular. He didn't want to have to give a message of judgment to Nineveh. So Jonah decided that he was going to flee. He was going to get away. He was going to disobey God. And the Bible says that Jonah fled from the presence of the Lord. And he went down to Joppa and he bought a ticket for Tarshish because you see Tarshish was a great resort city. And he thought to himself, I can go down there and lie on a beach and the Lord won't even know where I am. I can get away from it all. And that's been true all the way through the Bible. Adam and Eve thought they could get away from God and hide in the garden and hide behind the fig leaves that they sowed after they rebelled against God. But God came walking in the garden and said, Adam, where art thou? The Bible says you can make your bed in hell and you can't get away from God. There's nowhere for you to flee from God. And then the Bible says that he went down to Joppa, got into the ship and went down into the bottom of the ship to go asleep. So sin always leads us down. Jonah went down. And when you sin and persist in sin, it's going to lead you down.
Sin Leads Down
- Bio
- Summary
- Transcript
- Download
Billy Graham (November 7, 1918 – February 21, 2018) was an American preacher and evangelist whose global ministry transformed 20th-century Christianity, reaching millions with his message of salvation through Jesus Christ. Born William Franklin Graham Jr. on a dairy farm near Charlotte, North Carolina, to Frank and Morrow Graham, he grew up in a devout Presbyterian family. Converted at 16 during a 1934 revival led by Mordecai Ham, he attended Bob Jones College briefly before transferring to Florida Bible Institute (1937–1940) and graduating from Wheaton College (B.A. in Anthropology, 1943), where he met his wife, Ruth Bell. Ordained a Southern Baptist minister in 1939, he began preaching on radio and at youth rallies with Youth for Christ, gaining early fame. Graham’s preaching career skyrocketed after his 1949 Los Angeles Crusade, a tent revival extended from three to eight weeks due to massive crowds and media attention, launching the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA). Over six decades, he preached to over 210 million people in 185 countries, holding crusades—often broadcast on TV and radio—featuring sermons like “The Hour of Decision” and hits like “Just As I Am.” Advising U.S. presidents from Truman to Obama, he championed civil rights, notably integrating his rallies post-1954, and authored 33 books, including Peace with God (1953). Married to Ruth in 1943, with whom he had five children—Gigi, Anne, Ruth, Franklin, and Ned—he lived modestly in Montreat, North Carolina, until his death at 99 from pneumonia and Parkinson’s disease, buried beside Ruth at the Billy Graham Library.