One of the most well-known names in American religious life is “Billy Graham.” *. Many do not know some of the remarkable stories behind his national and international journey as America’s evangelist.  One such account revolves around his invitation to speak at Cambridge in London.

In 1955, a small group of Christian students who were members of the “Cambridge Intercollegiate Christian Union” had invited Billy Graham to speak for eight nights.  To the surprise of those students and many others, in twelve days, 28 opposing letters flooded into the editor of the “Times of London.”

Why?  One would have thought that Graham’s acceptance of the invitation would have been an opportunity to hear this new American evangelist who was making such an impact in American life over the past 10 years.

However, while some believed that Graham was a nice man, many could not “imagine what the fine young men and women from the University of Cambridge can learn from a man like this.”  Graham lacked the intellectual, scholarly, and/or philosophical credentials. 

Billy Graham graduated from Wheaton College with a major in anthropology and only had an honorary Doctor’s degree . . . . “Is it not the time that our religious leaders made plain that while they respect, or even admire, Dr. Graham’s sincerity and personal power, they cannot regard fundamentalism as likely as anything but disillusionment and disaster for the education men in this twentieth-century world.”

In 1953, he had almost stepped away from an invitation to speak at Princeton . . . .

“I almost did not accept it.  How could I address ministerial students at one of the most respected seminaries in the United States, when I had not been to seminary myself.” 

Nevertheless, Graham went, and Princeton’s President Mackay’s  personal warmth and letter of appreciation played into the decision to accept the Cambridge invitation.

While the many printed newspaper criticisms almost resulted in Graham stepping away from this opportunity once again, a renown British minister and Cambirdge graduate wrote Graham . . . 

“Billy, keep to the wonderfully clear simple message God has qualified you to speak”.

Graham accepted the invitation to speak at the Great St. Mary’s Hall, which would be packed to capacity every night!  One-fourth of the 8,000 member student body would rotate and would be able to attend each night.

Graham was intimidated, and for the first three nights, he quoted intellectuals and philosophers.

“I worked as diligently as I knew how to put the Gospel into an intellectual framework in eight messages.” 

Graham preached his first message on Sunday, November 6.  But to Graham’s dismay and discouragement, after three nights, there seemed to be little impact.

Finally, as Graham was facing his fourth service, he decided to throw the intellectual and scholarly approach to the wind and just preach the simple Gospel of the forgiveness of sin by the blood of Jesus!

“My gift, such as it was, was not to present the intellectual side of the Gospel.  I knew that.  What those students need was a clear understanding of the simple but profound truths of the Gospel; our separation from God because of sin; Christ’s provision of forgiveness and new life; and our hope because of Him.”

On that Wednesday night, Graham set aside his prepared remarks and said . . .

‘Let me tell you what I know about the Cross of Jesus Christ.’”

After preaching that message, he asked those who wanted to receive Christ as their Saviour to stay behind to make a commitment to Christ.  400 students stay behind to make that commitment! 

“For the rest of the week, I strove to be as simple and yet direct as possible, and the response continued to surprise us all. ” 

Over those eight days, over 2,000 students responded to the Gospel of forgiveness based on the work of Jesus on Calvary and made a commitment to Christ.

One of the students in attendance that night shared his own personal testimony . . . .

‘ll never forget that night. I was in the totally packed chancel sitting on the floor with the Regus Professor of Divinity sitting on one leg and the Chaplain of a College who was a future bishop on the other. Both of these were very good men, but completely against the idea that you needed salvation from sin by the blood of Jesus Christ. So dear Billy got up that night and he began at Genesis and he went right through the whole Bible and he talked about every single sacrifice you can imagine. The blood was just flowing all over the place-everywhere for 3/4 of an hour. And both my neighbors were terribly embarrassed by this crude proclamation of the blood of Christ. It was everything they disliked and everything they dreaded. But at the end of the sermon, Billy Graham dismissed the audience and invited anyone who wanted to say behind and make a commitment to Christ. And that night to everyone’s shock, 400 young women and men stayed to commit their lives to Christ.”

Many years later, that same student relates that he had met a young minister, and he asked. . .

“Where did Christian things begin with you?

“Oh, Cambridge 1955”

  “Really! When”

“Wednesday night — the last night of Billy Graham”

“How did it happen?

“All I remember is that I walked out of Great St, Mary’s that night and said, ‘Christ really died for me.'”

Christ died on Calvary for you! The forgiveness of sin through the person and work of Christ is actually that simple!  Simply put your faith in who He is and what He has done!  Believe that He is the Christ, the Messiah, God’s only  Son, the Saviour.  Put your faith in His work on Calvary, that when He died on Calvary, His death was payment for our sin.

The thief on the cross experienced the simplicity of the Gospel.  The woman at the well grasped the simplicity of God’s forgiveness.  Zacchaeus, an unjust tax collector who climbed a tree to see Jesus, responded to the simplicity of sins forgiven through Jesus.  It is simple enough for a child to understand.

Over centuries, thousands upon thousands have come to understand what Billy Graham simply preached that first Wednesday night at Cambridge — There is forgiveness of sins through the sacrificial death of the Son of God on Calvary!

Why not simply trust in Who He was and what He did?  — “Father, I believe Jesus was your only begotten son, and I believe that His death on Calvary truly paid for my sins.”

*Franklin Graham (Samaritan’s Purse) has continued his father’s legacy.

https://www.fullporchpress.com/full-porch-press-blog/374-nothingbuttheblood1