Straight away, I'm not an artist. You say, listen, fella, didn't take us very long to figure that one out. I am no artist. I make no pretensions. That's not artwork. It is the background for a couple of styles of lettering I'll be doing. I take my various colored paints, make dots and dashes on the easel, and mysteriously, before you're eyeballs, letters will appear, hopefully they'll add up to words, and I'll make a noble attempt of communicating to you some very, very important information. Now, before I begin, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Bill Welzine. I want you all front. I'm not going to be soliciting any money from anyone. And out here, folks, that's very, very Good news. Now, taking my red paint, I also need to inform you, this is not a red letter day. It's a white letter day. So as I apply red paint, you're going to look for white letters. Here's the first word in the title. Let's see, folks, if you can discern it. First word, folks. In the title. All right, can anybody make out this word right here? Anybody read that word? All right, all right. Crowd, folks, I'm honored to be here, but wait. There's the rest of the word, folks. Come on, somebody. Nobody? Oh, all right. Okay, now you're way ahead of me tonight. before you get too big-headed. What's that last thing up there? What's that last thing up there? A what? Very good guess. An incorrect guess. But it was a very good guess. Now, will you folks agree with me? The greatest insult you could ever level at a fellow American is charging him or her with being We Americans, we pride ourselves on how open and broad-minded we are, right? Sure we do. Well, this next word I place up here may well serve to meet a litmus test to see how truly open and broad-minded you genuinely are. Folks, what do you think? When do you see this word, folks? The word right here. Hope I haven't offended anyone at this point. If I was to ask you folks to devote to me everything you absolutely know about God, how long would it take you? Two hours, 20 minutes, two minutes, two seconds. I mean, folks, really and truly, it's all about God. I can tell you many long years ago, while in English class, I learned if one is a bit full in a complete sentence, you gotta have one of these, and we call it a... We call it a verb. Now we have a rather interesting question up there. Wouldn't you agree? Now in answering this question, I'm going to begin by putting up two statements that I'm very curious to know if you agree with my statements. Here's my first statement, folks. Have you read it? And folks, do you believe this statement? Right here. What do you think? Do you believe that? God is and God exists. Every so often someone comes up to me and says, listen buddy, there's no evidence there's a God. You know what I like to do with such an individual? I like to turn him to a building. I say, you see the building over there? They say, yeah. I say, you know, it just popped into existence last night. Of course, they look at me like I'm loopy and say, what are you talking about? I say, think about it, friend. Behind every building, there's a design and there's a designer. Now, folks, look at the world around you. You don't expect me to believe it just popped into existence. No, the fact of creation tells us plainly and clearly that God is, that God exists. That's my first statement now. here's my next statement again can you read this book and can you believe this statement right here all right can you can you decipher that God says, maybe better put, God speaks or God communicates with us. Now certainly through the fact of creation, He communicates His existence and His greatness. Folks, I want to tell you about a book. In the very first chapter of this book, not less than 10 times do you find the expression, and God said, that book would be the Bible. And did you know, if you looked only at the Old Testament, you'll find not less than 2,000 times words to the effect, The Word of God, which came to this, for that purpose. Folks, the Bible, Old and New Testament, claims to be the Word of God. Now in the Bible, God tells us many things. One of the most amazing things God tells us in all the Bible is this right here. How about that, huh? Let me translate it for you, folks. In the Bible, God tells us this. I told you it was astounding. But you may be thinking to yourself, God in the Bible says, there's only one way to heaven and hey, buddy. must be narrow-minded. Folks, not only does he tell us this, but it gets quite specific. The Apostle Peter, speaking to a group of well-educated religious teachers, he made this statement. He said, there's no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. And folks, the name that he gave was this name right here. Now again, you might be thinking to yourself, if God in the Bible says there's only one way to heaven, and it's through Jesus, God's got to be narrow-minded. Well, let's come back here, let's hear some more facts about God. I believe, folks, if you stick with me, in the end you will agree with me, this makes absolutely perfect sense. Now, we know God exists simply by looking around us. Folks, it's a self-evident fact. But as we look into the pages of the Bible, we begin to learn certain specifics about the character of God. Among those specifics, we learn that the God who is, the God who exists, He's a God who is perfectly, absolutely, and completely in all of His ways. Now, when the Bible says that God is Holy, it means he's separate, distinct. He's different from us and he's different in the fact that he's perfect in all of his ways. Now folks, we know that because God's given us his laws, he's given us his commandments. They reflect his perfect character. To refresh your minds, those commandments say things like we should never ever take God's holy name in vain, we should always honor and respect mom and dad, never commit murder, never in adultery, never lie, steal, cheat, take advantage of one another. Now, is there anyone among us here this evening can say in all honesty, I've complied with those standards my entire life. Folks, you won't catch me raising my hand. The Bible says if we've ever violated or fail to comply with any of God's holy laws, we stand guilty before God. This right here, folks, a little three-letter word, that's right. Sin is the breaking, the violating, or the failing to comply with God's holy law. So the Bible teaches us the God who exists, the God who is holy. But folks, the Bible goes on to teach us that this holy God is also a God who in all of his ways is perfectly, absolutely, and thoroughly Now, if you've ever thought of God as the just judge of the universe, my friends, you're doing well. The Bible teaches that. The Bible tells us one day, every one of us, whether we're ready or not, we're going to stand before our Maker and give an account of what we've done in this life. Folks, if you've ever violated any of God's holy laws, you have committed sin, and God being a God of justice, folks, must condemn us. Now, you might be surprised to know this, but the Bible does actually speak of a very terrible, a very awful place that is known as hell. In fact, Jesus Christ, he spoke more on that subject than any other individual in all the Bible. So, the Bible teaches us the God who exists is a God who is holy, The God who is just of my friends because we are sinful people folks not good news for us But the Bible goes on to teach us that this holy God this just God is also got a perfect Absolute Infinite steadfast and unfailing Now, we know God's a good God just by the fact that we're here right now. Think of this. Many people went to bed last night and they never woke up this morning. But you're alive. You're able to enjoy the beauty of the evening. You're able to listen to what I'm saying. But folks, the supreme, the ultimate demonstration of God's love was in the giving of his son, Jesus Christ. You say, buddy, what's the big deal about Jesus? What about Mohammed, or Buddha, or Confucius, or Krishna, or all the rest of those religious guys? I mean, aren't they all the same? Let's think about it. The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ is the maker of heaven and earth. The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ, he was concerned about us sinners, this problem of sin we have, so concerned, folks, that he actually did something about it. The Bible tells us that Jesus left the worship of angels. He left the glory of heaven. He was conceived as to his humanity in the womb of a virgin by the Holy Spirit. The Bible teaches us that Jesus Christ, he's both fully God, he is fully man, he has two natures, but he's one divine and glorious person. And in his humanity, he was like us. He hungered, he thirsted, he wept. He knew what it was like to experience pain. Folks, Jesus Christ was unlike us in the fact that he had no sin. The only perfect human being who ever walked this planet was the Son of God, Jesus Christ. So folks, you don't have to be Bible scholars to know that the Bible plainly very clearly teaches us that Jesus died a hideous, horrendous, ignoble death at the spot of the cross. Now, folks, if you were to look back in history, you would learn that crucifixion was the style of execution for the social scum of that day. You say, buddy, I'm a bit confused. One moment ago, you told all of us that Jesus was sinless and perfect and flawless. And now here in the next breath, you tell us he died the death of a common criminal. I mean, What's going on? Well, let's come back here, folks. Remember, the God who exists is a God who is holy, given holy laws. Folks, if we've broken those laws, God can be without justice and must condemn us. But God demonstrates, God commends, God manifests His own love toward us in this, in that while we were yet sinners, Jesus Christ died, the righteous one, in the place of the unrighteous ones. My friends, do you get it? Because God is a holy and a just God. He can't ignore sin. He can't sweep it under the rug. He can't turn a blind eye to it. No. His holy character demand He judge it. But folks, that's what the cross is all about. The Bible tells us that God the Father made Him. God the Son should be sent on behalf of sinners. Jesus Christ who never knew any sin. Why? So God's perfect righteousness could be put to the account of all humans. Jesus Christ, He died for, He died in the place of sinners. But folks, is that where the story ends? Again, I ask you, what makes Jesus different from Muhammad, Buddha, or any other religious teacher? Well, let's think about it. Jesus was born of a virgin. Nobody else was. Jesus led the perfect life. Nobody else did. And prior to his death, he predicted not only when and where, and how he would die, and who would put him to death. But folks, he added this. He said, look for me three days later. Why? He said he would physically, he would bodily, and he would literally resurrect from the dead. Now, did he do it? Or those are words of a raving lunatic. Well, folks, I'm happy to report the Bible emphatically states he did good. But folks, I want you to know it wasn't done in a corner. The Bible says that after Jesus Christ resurrected from the dead, he showed himself alive for a period of 40 days, a period on at least 10 occasions. On one occasion, we're told, he appeared to more than 500 witnesses at one time. Folks, think about that. Did you know if you walked in a courtroom in our country with two reputable witnesses, you got a great case? The Bible doesn't say there are only two witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. There are merely 200 witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. More than 500 people at one time all agreed that Jesus Christ was dead days before was now physically alive What does that mean? It means this the Bible is not a book of literal legend. It's a book of historical fact I've noticed something about us broad liberal minded humans We tend to have an innate treacherous in our mind against the Bible books How many people have you met your life who will swear there are contradictions in the Bible, but when press will admit You've never even read the book. How many people do you know that say nice things about the Bible daily yet? They won't go in here with a barge pole. I suggest to you, the reason we ignore the Bible as we do, is because the Bible's absolutely true and we humans have a big aversion to absolute truth. But folks, the facts remain. Jesus Christ, he died for sinners, he resurrected on the third day. Folks, that's more of a gospel or good news. I don't care how long you live. You're not going to hear any better news, but you'll never experience the forgiveness of your sin, nor will you ever come to know the fullness of life simply by hearing this message. God demands a response. So I'm going to put up two important Bible words, explain them, then we'll draw this to a conclusion. Now folks, the reason I say that this is an important Bible word is because it's stated in the Bible that God commands all people everywhere to repent. He said, buddy, I don't know what it means. Let me explain repentance. Jesus Christ told us there was a broad road that leads to destruction. Jesus Christ told us down that broad road there were an awful lot of us. Now, folks, unfortunately, with every step of breath you take, you're another step closer to death. That's an irreversible fact. The Bible says with death comes judgment, not reincarnation. You die in your sin. You end up in hell. Now, folks, as you follow the herd down the broad road, Jesus says this. He says, I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. No man or woman will come to the Father in heaven except through me. Now, did you know Jesus didn't say, hey, I'm one of the ways. There are many. He said, I am the way. So what's repentance? Repentance is turning from your own way, your own self-righteousness, your own self-will, and you come to God on His terms, not yours. Now let me give you a very simple explanation for biblical faith please look at every letter forsaking all I trust Him. Biblical faith isn't Jesus plus your religion, Jesus plus your system of self-effort, Jesus and your nice, warm, cuddly teddy bear. No. Biblical faith is admitting, Lord God, I am a bankrupt sinner. And Lord God, I come to the broken heart. I come to the contrite spirit. I embrace Your Son, Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ alone. My Lord and my Savior from sin. Let's come back to our original question. Is God narrow-minded? Folks, I have to tell you, I have people that come up to me periodically and they say to me, buddy, I'm happy that you found a truth that works for you. My problem is this, your truth isn't my truth. Folks, you need to know it's one of the most absurd statements that any rational human being can make. You say, why? Because truth by nature is constant. consistent, absolute, and truth is always narrow. Truth does not change from person to person or day to day. Tell my friends, God's not a narrow-minded guy. He's a gracious God. Calling sinners to Himself is very easy. My friends, the real question is this, are you narrow-minded? Are you willing to open your heart to the Son of God, Jesus Christ? Well, the Bible promises if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you'll be saved. What a grand promise. Take God at His word and find out how great it is. Folks, in the beginning I stated I didn't want any money. That remains true. I have a free gift. Now, this is the week leading up to Good Friday, leading up to Easter Sunday. What's it all about? It's all about bunnies and eggs and bonnets. If you're interested in celebrating Easter, you might as well know when you're celebrating. Come on up, take a free booklet, you'll win nothing. Good news about the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. You want to guide your sinners, you want to resurrect them victoriously. All right, thank you. Good news is free. Find out what Good Friday is all about. Why is it called good? And find out about Easter Sunday at the empty tomb. Good news about the Lord Jesus. My friends, you can't live without him. My friends, you don't want to be caught dead without the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Thanks again. If you have questions, comments, criticisms, I'm a big boy, I can take it. Feel free to come on up. Thank you again for faith in the Lord Jesus. Life is very short. Eternity? Very, very, very, very long. David, right? Very long. David. David. David.