Billy Graham: How Shall We Escape?

A new word came into common usage some years ago: escapism. The dictionary defines it as a retreat from reality into an imaginary world.

The Bible says: “How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?” (Hebrews 2:3). Many of you are caught and held in the clutches of escapism. Instead of facing up to the realities of sin and defeat in your own life, you are trying to hide in an illusive, imaginary world.

But the Bible suggests that there is no way of escape. Sooner or later we must leave our dream world and face up to the fact of God, sin and judgment. The Bible says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

Personalities are warped by sin. Frustration, fears, nervous tension and a thousand-and-one other psychological problems have gripped millions of people because of the moral disease called sin.

There are no new sins, only new sinners; there are no new crimes, only new criminals; no new evils, only new evildoers; no new pleasures, only new pleasure seekers. The devil has invented no new gimmicks. Sin and its accompanying effects are now and always have been monotonously the same. The murders you read about are no more shocking or no different than the murder of Abel by Cain. Sexual perversions, which our modern media play up as daring and new, are only modern copies of the ancient perversions of Sodom and Gomorrah.

After thousands of years of so-called human progress, education, science and culture, we are amazed to discover that man is capable of the same old vices and sins, and that as a race we are little improved spiritually.

For centuries people have tried to escape the realities of life and shirk their responsibilities to God. It is one of the tricks of Satan. One of the great designs and plans of Satan is that you may find a measure of temporary satisfaction in an escapism that he offers. Many of us have been running away ever since we were children. And some of us are still running—still trying to find a way of escape.

Jesus says: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Stubbornly, we resist Christ’s pleadings, and each passing day finds us a little deeper in the pit of despair.

First, there is the escape of imagination.

Solomon spoke of a heart that devised “wicked imaginations” (Proverbs 6:18, KJV). The Apostle Paul spoke of people who sought to escape from life’s reality: They “became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened” (Romans 1:21).

Satan does a good job of selling the unreal. He succeeded in getting Samson to trade his real power and strength for the imagination of passion and desire. It was evil imagination that lured David out of the pathway of blessing, when he imagined that he loved Bathsheba, and it led him to years of sorrow, remorse and judgment. In Luke 15, the prodigal son imagined that the pleasures of the far-off city were greater than the joys of his home. But after wasting his substance in riotous living, he returned to his father in repentance and tears, and begged to be a hired servant in his father’s house. His tuition in the school of experience was costly, but he discovered that real peace was found in facing up to the reality of life and doing something about it.

Satan’s dream world always ends with disillusionment. Sin, which is his stock and trade, when it is finished brings forth death. The Bible teaches that with Christ in your heart, you can face the realities of life, and even though they are hard, the grace of God will give you greater joy and pleasure than any dream world.

Second, there is the escape of pleasure.

This is humanity’s oldest escape from reality and responsibility. It is a flight into passion, appetite and desire.

A man wrote and said: “I’m going to drown my troubles in alcohol.” A harried businessman wrote and said: “I’m going to plunge into a lost weekend.” An unfaithful man told me, “I’ll show my wife that somebody loves me.”

And so the poor, frustrated, deluded souls run like frightened beasts into the jungle of worldly pleasure, only to emerge more miserable than before. The Bible warns us to beware of the deceitfulness of pleasure. “For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe a man with rags” (Proverbs 23:21).

We must distinguish between wholesome, God-ordained pleasure and sinful, worldly pleasure. Christians have more wholesome fun than anyone in the world, but their joy wells up from within. It is not something artificially stimulated by the sinful pleasures of the world. The first fruit of the Spirit, the Bible says, is joy. The Bible also warns that it is futile to try to escape from God by flight into pleasure, “whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things” (Philippians 3:19).

If you have been trying to escape in amusement and sinful pleasure, I beg you to turn back. This is a blind alley that leads to destruction and death. You cannot find eternal joy, happiness, peace and pleasure on this road. Jesus called it a broad road that leads to destruction. He points to a narrow path that leads to eternal life.

Third, there is the escape of security.

Thousands of people in these plush times settle down in the security of a bank account, good business and luxurious living. This has become your escapism.

There is nothing wrong with possessing riches, but the wrong comes when riches possess you. The Bible sounds a warning to those who have become smug in their sense of security: “If riches increase, do not set your heart on them” (Psalm 62:10).

Riches, actually, are a gift from God. But money cannot buy happiness! Money cannot buy true pleasure. Money cannot buy peace of heart. And money cannot buy entrance into the Kingdom of God. Oftentimes, money is a hindrance to these things. Riches, when used selfishly rather than for the glory of God, tend to corrupt in our hands.

The Bible says: “Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days” (James 5:3).

If God has given you more than your neighbors around you, dedicate it to Christ. Realize that you are only a steward of that which God has given you, and some day you will have to give an account for every penny you spent. If money has dulled your spiritual senses, I beg of you to confess your sin and turn to God.

Fourth, there is the escape of self-sufficiency.

The flight away from God and into self-sufficiency is as old as man. It finds expression in this modern day in the words, “Believe in yourself” and in admonitions to self-confidence. But the Bible says: “For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself” (Galatians 6:3).

The smallest package I ever saw was a man wrapped up wholly in himself. God did not intend that we should be self-sufficient. Life on the highest level is a life which leans on the everlasting arms. “In You, O Lord, I put my trust,” said David (Psalm 31:1).

When we say, “I can do all things,” we must always add Paul’s words, “through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).

God’s Word says to the self-sufficient: “You say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked” (Revelation 3:17). This too, is a blind alley. The Bible says: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

There are many people who boast of their own virtues. The Bible says that our good works are filthy rags in the sight of God. We cannot save ourselves. We cannot get ourselves to Heaven by our own good deeds. Only by the grace of God, through Christ, are we saved and forgiven.

Christ dying on the cross was an act of the love of God for sinful people, and only through the finished work of Christ will anyone get to Heaven.

Fifth, there is the escape by suicide.

The mayor of a small town near where I live committed suicide. None of his friends had an explanation except that for the past month he had been despondent and discouraged. He apparently decided to end it all and put a bullet through his head.

The Bible tells us that we cannot end it all by committing suicide. With a gun, a vial of poison or a rope, you can destroy your body, but your soul will live on through all eternity.

The Bible says: “Though they dig into hell, from there My hand shall take them; though they climb up to heaven, from there I will bring them down” (Amos 9:2).

If you have thought about ending it all, I warn you that is no way of escape.

You say, “But Billy, is there no refuge from life’s hurts, distresses and burdens? Is there no deliverance from sin’s bondage?”

I want to tell you that I bring you Good News. There is a way of escape. There is a way of deliverance. In Hebrews 2, where we find the words, “How shall we escape?” we are told about the means of escape that God has provided: “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. … and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Hebrews 2:9, 15).

Jesus is the way of escape that God has provided. The Bible declares: “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3). Accept Him now as your Savior and know the joy of sin forgiven. “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). ©1954 BGEA

Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version.

COME TO JESUS TODAY

Jesus is the only One who can deliver us and give us eternal life. And He will come into your heart and life today if you will turn from your sin and put your faith in Him. You can have a new life, a new beginning. First, confess your sin to God and turn away from it. Second, receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior, putting your faith in Him alone to save you. He promises to live in you and to transform your life.

START BY SIMPLY TALKING TO GOD.

You can pray a prayer like this:

“Dear God, I know that I am a sinner. I’m sorry for my sin. I want to turn from my sin. Please forgive me. I believe Jesus Christ is Your Son; I believe He died on the cross for my sin and You raised Him to life. I want Him to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want to trust Jesus as my Savior and follow Him as my Lord from this day forward. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.”

DO IT RIGHT NOW.

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