It's good to be here today. Good to see each one of you. I have a couple of announcements to make. We are going to be beginning this fall on September the 9th in Sunday School some material that is put out by Answers in Genesis. All of the Sunday School classes will be doing this material. It is graded material from kindergarten on up through adult. Everybody will be working on the same material. So, as a family, you will be getting a lot of different material that you can take home. There will be student handbooks for you to work through. But one of the things that we're excited about is there's also a family devotional. that you can do. You could use it every evening if you wanted. You could use it once a week. But we're going to be really encouraging you and training you. One of my goals is for you to be involved in a family time of devotions as well as maybe being involved in small groups and other things and Sunday school classes. We need to be doing discipleship, men, in our home. Training and teaching God's Word. So we're going to be doing some work on that. And in relationship to that, we're going to be watching a short little promotional on the screens that's put out by AIG. You hear this one a lot. Science has proven evolution, therefore evolution is true. Since evolution is true and Christians don't believe it, then Christians don't believe science and they aren't rational people. Really. Let's put that claim to the test. First off, evolution in the sense that things change is evident. No rational person disputes that. Therefore, rational Christians believe it. We can observe change. But evolution in the sense that life came from non-life, and then that life began to randomly generate new genetic information, and over time it eventually produced humans, is something entirely different, and something that, quite honestly, doesn't hold up against science. In other words, evolution in the sense of molecules to man is not scientifically plausible, and therefore should not be viewed as scientific fact. Quite honestly, it is in great opposition to science, that is, observational science, the kind of science we can test and repeat and use our five senses to understand. Science demonstrates that over time, living organisms lose genetic information. They don't gain it. That same science demonstrates that life doesn't arise from non-life. Hey, follow along if you would. Fact one, there is no known observable process by which new genetic information can be added to an organism's genetic code. None. That pretty much refutes evolution right away because there's no way to go from a fish to an amphibian without adding new information, right? If living organisms cannot produce new genetic information, how can anything gradually change into something of higher intelligence or form or complexity? How can anything evolve from an amoeba to a man without adding new genetic information? The answer, of course, is that it can't. Plain and simple. Now, some have speculated, and they have imagined all kinds of things, and they brought in artists to produce creative renderings based on guesses, and they have been successful in telling a very convincing story that humans evolved from ape-like creatures. But those are just drawings, people. They're just stories. But what we really observe is humans are humans, and apes are apes. Now, if Fact 1 buried evolutionary thinking deep into the Precambrian soil, this next fact, Fact 2, tosses so much sediment on it that not even the greatest team of paleontologists with the latest subterranean gizmo could dig up the remains. Check this out. Never, again, never has it been observed that life can come from non-life. Here are two major scientific evidences against evolution. I reiterate for clarity, life has never been observed to come from non-life and there is no known observable process by which new genetic information can be added to the genetic code of an organism. So molecules demand evolution doesn't really make scientific sense. Yet we are all here, and life is all around us in various forms. Although evolution cannot account for this, the Bible can. The Bible reveals that the all-powerful, all-knowing, supernatural God created the heavens and the earth out of nothing, and all life according to its kinds, that is, each with its own set of genetic information. So, again, what the Bible reveals makes sense of what we see and understand. Evolution does not. Enough said. Galatians 4, verse 6. And then, find in the pew rack in front of you or under the chair near you a hymnal and turn to number 527. I know whom I believe. And have that opened as well, so when we get to it, you're ready. Galatians 4, verse 6 through 11. And would you join me in a word of prayer? Father, as we quiet our hearts before You, we pray that the words that have resonated from our lips have been pleasing to You. We're reminded of the words of the prophet when he said, this people draws near to me with their lips. but their heart is far from them. Oh, Father, forgive us for the many times in this last week when our heart has perhaps been in the far country. When maybe even we began our day or we later in the day over a meal prayed and our lips spoke Your praise and yet our heart was gone. Lord, draw us close this morning. Draw us in the secret place, in the inner place, the place that You have searched, the place that You know. Father, minister to us this morning, in Jesus' name, Amen. We're looking at Galatians 4 this morning. We're talking about known of God. And I want us to begin reading in verse 6. And we're going to read to verse 11, basically finishing up this paragraph in the book of Galatians. In verse 6, the Holy Spirit tells us, because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts. And the Spirit cries out within us, Abba, Father. Therefore, you are no longer a slave, but you are a son. And if a son, then an heir of God. through Christ, but then indeed, when you did not know God." That's B.C. That's before you came to know Christ. But then indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods. Notice that that is in the plural with a small g. But, and here's this contrast, but now, after you have known God, or rather, and he clarifies here, or rather are known by God, how is it that you have turned again to the weak and the beggarly elements to which you once again desire to be in bondage? You observe days and months and seasons and years. And I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain." Now, as we have looked at these verses prior, as we were looking in verse 6, we were looking back in verse 4 concerning the ministry of the Son of God. We spoke about the reality that God sent His Son into the world to redeem the world. God sent forth His Son into the world, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem us. And so the work of the Son is to redeem us. But then last week, beginning in verse 6, we saw that God sent His Spirit into the world to relate to us, in order to have a relationship with us. And so the Spirit was sent from the Father into the heart of people. When we are redeemed by Christ, the Spirit takes up residence within us in order that God may relate to us. And the Spirit of God cries out within us, Abba Father, that Spirit of adoption into the family of God. We talked about different things concerning that. We look at the designation of the Spirit. He is the Spirit of the Son. He always points to the Son of God. We look at His destination. The Son was sent from heaven to earth to dwell amongst men. The Spirit was sent from heaven to earth to dwell in the hearts of men, those who believe in Christ. We look at the demonstration of the Spirit. What does the Spirit do? He demonstrates that we were born again by crying out within us, Abba Father. And then, beginning where we are this morning in verse 11, He turns again to His main concern. His main concern for these people is that they are trading a relationship with God for ritualism. They are trading in a relationship with God for religion. Rather than relationship, which is the heart of Christianity, they become more entwined and more involved in the mere doing of religious ritual. Jesus talked to the Pharisees of His day often about this. In fact, in Luke chapter 11, He says to these Pharisees, He says, now you Pharisees, you make the outside of the cup and of the dish clean, but inside, You are full of greed and wickedness, he says foolish ones. And then he goes on and he says this, Woe to you Pharisees, for you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and yet you pass by justice and the love of God. You see, they were doing all these religious rituals, and they were thinking that in those religious rituals, they could have salvation. And yet, they had passed over that which was most important, the righteousness of God, the justice of God, and the love of God. And so here, Paul is turning again to his main concern. They are trading relationship with God for religious ritual. And when they do so, They put themselves into bondage. Notice what he says in verse 9 and verse 10. As he's developing this thought, excuse me, in verse 8 and 9, he talks about how before they knew God, they served those which by nature are not God's. Notice that word, serve. That is a Greek word which has as its root another word that speaks of slavery. Have you ever heard of the Greek word doulos? A doulos was a slave. He was someone who had no rights and he was in servile servanthood. He was owned by another. He was enslaved. This word is an expansion of that word, but basically it comes from that root. He's not just talking about serving someone like ministering to them. This is a word which speaks of slavery. And so he says, before you knew God, you were in slavery to those which by nature were not God's. And then he comes down, and at the end of this next verse, he goes into that very same thought and says, how is it that you once again desire to sell yourself into bondage? How do you want to do this? Reminds me of Jesus' words in Matthew chapter 6. Jesus says there, no man can serve two masters. No man can serve two masters, for either he will love the one and despise the other, or he will cling to the one and hate the other. You cannot serve God and mammon with the things of the world. You cannot serve God and man. You cannot be enslaved to two masters. No man can serve two masters. Who is your master today? In Romans 6, verse 16, the Scripture says this, Do you not know that to whom you present yourself, a slave to obey? You are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death or of obedience. leading to righteousness. And so Paul is here talking about a relationship with God, knowing God, or rather, being known by God. Now I told you to take a hymnal and turn to 5.7. What's a look at this hymn for a minute? I want you to look at 527, and I want us to use it as a framework for where we go this morning as we think about knowing God. And this is what we're talking about today, is the relationship of knowing God. How is it that we can have a relationship with God and know Him? And I just want you to notice the refrain of this song, or what we call the chorus. It is actually a quote, verbatim, from 2 Timothy 1, verse 12. "'But I know whom I have believed, And I am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I've committed unto Him against that day. I know whom I have believed." You know what, my friend? We don't want you just to know what you believe. We want you to know who you believe in. And there is a vast difference. There are many people who are destined for the lake of fire and hell who can parse all the verses of Scripture, who know the books of the Bible inside and out, and yet they do not know God. We want you to know who you believe, not just what you believe. Now, there are four mysteries. This is an interesting hymn because it's in antithesis. Notice what he says. He begins each one of the verses, I know not. I know not. He says, first of all, in verse 1, I know not why God's wondrous grace to me has made known, nor why unworthy Christ in love redeemed me for His own. That's something I don't know. I don't know why He saved me. I don't understand, first of all, His saving grace. Why would God save me? Why would God love you? I don't understand that. That's a mystery to me. But this I know. I know whom I believe. Secondly, he says this, I don't know, I don't understand how this saving faith, to me he did impart, nor how believing in his word brought peace within my heart. But I do know this, I know whom I believe. I don't understand how this works. I don't know how saving faith comes to my heart. But I know that in answer to the Word of God, it has. And I know whom I have believed." The third thing he says, he says, I don't understand the mystery of regeneration. I do not know how the Spirit moves, convincing men of sin, revealing Jesus through the Word, creating faith in Him. And then lastly he says, I know not when my Lord may come, at night or noonday fair, nor if I'll walk the vale with him, or meet him in the air." Will it be rapture or will it be death? I don't know, but I know whom I believed in. When will it happen? I do not know, but I know whom I believed in. Who are you trusting in? Who are you believing in? This hymn was written by a man named Daniel Whittle. You can put your hymn away if you want. You can look at it as we go along here as well. This is the first song that Daniel Whittle published. It was published in 1887. It speaks to us as Christians of the unshakable security that we have in knowing Christ. Daniel Whittle was a treasurer for the Elgin Watch Company in Chicago. He was a very close friend of D.L. Moody. Most of you have heard of D.L. Moody, but probably not many of us have heard of Daniel Whittle. He also wrote another hymn that we love. It's the hymn, There Shall Be Showers of Blessings. He left his job mid-career to become a full-time evangelist. He had no formal theological training at all, which, by the way, in his day, was actually a good thing. Because in his day, every one of the major theological seminaries in our country had jettisoned orthodoxy to go into liberalism. They had all moved that direction. This is predating what we now know as the Bible College movement, when men like D.L. Moody said, this is nuts. I go to these churches, people get saved, kids grow up in churches and then they go away to a Bible college and they lose their faith at Bible college?" And Moody said, this is nuts. So he started Moody Bible Institute, as well as there was a whole Bible college movement in the United States of America. So he didn't go anywhere to school. He had no theological training. But he had a deep love for the Word of God and he voraciously studied it. He was a man who had a deep love for Christ. And he coupled that with a deep passion to communicate that love to others. To be able to make Christ known. His full name was Daniel Webster Whittle. He was born in 1840. He died in 1901. And he was no stranger to the mysteries of life and death. He was a Union infantryman. fought in the Civil War. In fact, he marched with General George Sherman through Georgia. He was wounded at the Battle of Vicksburg. Surrounded, he says, being surrounded on a field of battle by fallen comrades, men whose lives had ended. His mind would be flooded with the mystery. Why did he die, but I lived? Before he marched off with the Illinois infantry, his mother, who was a huge influence in his life, tucked into his backpack a small Bible. That Bible accompanied him throughout the entire war. In fact, it was as a prisoner of war that he poured over it pages. And he came to know, I know whom I have believed. And I am persuaded that he is able to keep what I have committed to him against that day. And so pouring over that Bible during intense suffering, the mystery of God's love became real to him until he could write these words, I know whom I have believed. Which leads us to the all-important question for each one of us this morning. Do you know God? Or rather, in the words of Galatians, does God know you? Does God know you? In the movie Amazing Grace, the movie that depicts the life of William Wilberforce, there's a conversation that he's having with his butler shortly after coming to faith, and they're sitting out in the grass where he's been out in the morning worshipping the Lord, William Wilberforce has. The butler says to him, have you found God? Wilberforce replies, no, I think he found me. And he goes on to say, and you don't know how inconvenient that is at the moment. Does God know you? Now, I want to submit to you from the text that we are looking at this morning, what is the major impediment to knowing God? We would all say our sin. You know, that's not really right. Because God sent His Son into the world to redeem us. That sin does not have to become a barrier. It can be removed. It is washed in the blood of Christ. It is taken from us in our justification by grace through faith alone. But you know what is the greatest impediment to many people coming to know God? It is religion. It is ritual. Religious ritual is one of the greatest bondages that keep people bound in sin, alienated from God. You know why? Because people feel secure in religion. Because people go to church and there's stained glass windows, and everybody sings the same songs, and they put money on the offering plate, and they do this, and they do this, and they do this. And it's the very same error of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, where after their sin, they robe themselves in the robes of their own righteousness, the fig leaves. Religious ritual is an impediment. The bondage of natural religion Remember what we were talking about with natural religion? Natural religion is the religion that comes naturally to us. In our fallen nature, in our fallen state, it is the religious belief that our fallen nature default turns to. And that religion always is summarized in the concepts of ritualism. That I can have a relationship with God by doing things. And Paul says that that binds us in bondage. Paul puts it another way in 2 Corinthians 4, verse 4, when he says these words, "...whose minds the God of this age has blinded. Those who do not believe, lest the light of the glory of the gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them." The God of this age has blinded the mind of the unbeliever. And Paul is talking there about very religious Jews. very religious Jews, whose eyes are veiled from Christ in the law of Moses. He tells us here that before knowing God, notice this in verse 8, he says, but then indeed when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods. I want us just to let that sink in for a minute. You know, there's a very close step between even revealed religion that degenerates into ritualism and pagan, false religions, very close step in leading into spiritual bondage. He doesn't separate the Jew and the Greek here. He says, before you knew God, when you were involved in all these religious rituals, you were serving, even in your practices of religion, you were serving those which by nature were not God's. Who is he talking about there? Demons, right? Demons. The demonic influences. Come with me to the book of 1 Corinthians. I had this on the screen, but since I don't have it up there, you're going to have to turn with me this morning. So, we're going to go to three passages that I want us to look at that develop this thought about serving those which by nature are not God's. He begins in 1 Corinthians 8 where he's talking about me, sacrifice to idols. This was a big question for the people of his day was, was it permissible to eat or to purchase in the marketplace food which had been sacrificed in a pagan temple? And so Paul is dealing with that question. I'm not going to go through that whole question in depth this morning, but I want us to notice the first several verses because he brings out this very same thought. He says, now concerning the things that are offered to idols, we know That we all have knowledge, but knowledge puffs up and love edifies. If anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing, yet as he ought to know it. But if anyone loves God, notice this verse, very same thought as in Galatians 4, but if anyone loves God, this one is known by him. What does he say? The same thought as in 1 John. The immediate. result of being known by God is to love God. That is the immediate result. So if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him. Therefore, concerning the eating of things that are offered to idols, this is what we know. We know that an idol is really nothing in the world. It's just a hunk of wood. A guy cuts down a tree in the book of Jeremiah. He takes a part of the tree and he cuts it up for firewood and he builds a fire and he cooks his meal. He takes another part of the same tree and he carves an idol and he sets it on his mantle and he worships it. It's just a piece of wood. You see what he's saying there? It's just a piece of wood. But notice what he's saying. That's what is true in the physical realm, but it is deeper than that in the spiritual realities. We know that an idol is nothing in the world because there is no other God but One. For even if there are so-called gods, whether they're in heaven or on earth, as there are many gods and many lords, all the polytheistic religions of the world. Yet there is, yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him, and there is one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live. However, there is not in everyone that knowledge." That knowledge of God. Now go to chapter 10. Let's look at his conclusion, how he brings us together. In chapter 10, in verse 19, He kind of brings this thing back around after going through all the nuances of whether or not it's permissible to eat this meat, and he makes some summary statements. But I want us just to notice verse 19. What am I saying then? That an idol is anything? Or that what is offered to an idol is anything? Rather, this is what I'm saying. The things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice in reality. to demons and not to God. And I do not want you to have fellowship with demons." Now just see that link there. Now this link between the spiritual realities that these false religions bind people demonically in error. Go with me to Romans chapter 1. Go to Romans chapter 1 for a minute. In Romans chapter 1, I want you to notice with me verse 19. In verse 19, Paul says this, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power in Godhead, which renders every person on the planet, he says, without excuse." You see that? That's what he's saying. Everybody on the planet is without excuse. Because God has clearly revealed several things about Himself to everyone, regardless of whether or not they hear the name of Christ. They are without excuse. Why? Notice verse 21. Because although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were they thankful. But they became futile in their thinking, and thus, because they became futile in their thinking, their foolish heart was darkened. And thus, professing to be wise, they became fools and they changed in. They turned from God, they turned to idols, and they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God and made Him into an image that was made like corruptible man and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. And the bondage of idolatry is developed there. You can go back to Galatians chapter 4. And so he tells us there, before you knew God, you served those which by nature are not gods. The Prophet Jeremiah wrote in the book of Jeremiah in chapter 9. He says this to us. He's writing to a nation who has done this very thing. They've exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for Baals, for Ashtoreth. They are worshipping false gods and because of that they are going to be sent into Babylon. And Jeremiah writes to his people and he says this, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom. Let not the mighty man glory in his might. Let not the rich man glory in his riches. But let him who glory, glory in this, that he understands and knows me. that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord exercising lovingkindness and judgment and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, saith the Lord." Let not the rich man glory in his riches. Let not the mighty man glory in his might. Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom. But let the one who glory, glory in this, that he understands and knows God. Are you known of God? I won't make you stand up teenagers, but Matt's told me that you've been memorizing Psalm 139. Should we quote it? Oh Lord, think of this. Oh Lord, you have searched me and know me. You know when I sit down, you know when I get up. You understand my thoughts long before I think them. You understand my thoughts are far off. You compass my path and my lying down, and You are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue below, O Lord, You know it!" In every way. You have set me behind and before, You've laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high. I cannot attain it. The knowledge of God. God is an omniscient God. He knows everything about us from beginning to end. He tells us in that psalm, in Psalm 139, that all the days that were allotted to me were written in your book before there was one of us. This is the knowledge of God. Are you known of God? In Romans 11, Paul cries out in doxology of praise, oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God. How unsearchable are His judgment and His ways past finding out. Knowing God. We see in this passage here, being known of God, this stresses the initiation of God. That God comes seeking us. That God wants a relationship with us. When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, it was God who came searching for them. It was God who came to them in the cool of the day and said to them, where are you, Adam? Where are you at? It is God in all of His knowledge about us who seeks us. Monty's been doing a study on Friday nights called Quieting a Noisy Soul. He was telling me about an illustration. I didn't even listen to the CD. But just listening to the little bit that Monty shared with me made my mind run on this thought. How many of you have bought a used car? Bought a used car? It's a scary proposition, isn't it? You never quite know what you're getting. A lot of fear in that. I hope I'm not getting a lemon. I hope the guy is telling me what it really is. All those thoughts. When God purchases us, He knows the maintenance record. He knows it all. And He loves us anyway. Think of the reality of that. That God will never love you anymore Then He loves you at this moment. He'll never love you any less. He loves us constantly and with constancy. There is nothing that I can do that will make Him love me more. There is nothing that I can do that will make Him love me less. He loves me and He knows me. To be known of God. It wasn't God that was lost, was it? Nobody needed to find God. It was me that was lost. And He sought for me. This is an eternal quest. That is why it says in John 17, think of the reality of this, that for all eternity, we will be involved in a quest of coming to know God. When you got married, you stood before a preacher and witnesses. You said, for better or for worse, till death do us part. And you became one. But then for all of life, you're involved in a relationship whereby you are coming to know that one you love all the more. And hopefully by the end of your life, you know and love them better than you did at the start. That's the goal, isn't it? It's the goal. And so it is with God. This is an eternal quest. In John 17 we are told, and this is eternal life, that they may know you. the only true God in Jesus Christ Whom you have sent." This is the quest for which we were created. It is the central concern of the Christian life. Everything we do is an overflow of this central concern which is the driving force of our life that we may know Christ. All of our work is an outgrowth of this pursuit. And that is why Paul could say in 1 Corinthians 10, verse 31, whether therefore you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of Christ. Now we know from Scripture, the only road to knowing God is Christ. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes unto the Father, but through Me," Jesus said. The only road to knowing God is Christ. There are many people in our world that think they know God, and all they know is religious ritual, or all they know is servitude to demons, even though they have spiritual experience. But there is bondage in that. The only road to knowing God is Christ. And Christ is known, the Scripture says, through two things. Through His works and through His Word. We look at the heavens and they declare the glory of God. I went outside just before going to bed last night and looked at the stars. There's no lights out there where we live. None of that light pollution they talk about today. And the stars were magnificent last night. The Milky Way galaxy. We don't look at those stars and bow down before them and worship them. We look at those stars and we bow down and worship their Creator. We look at the works of God. We look into His Word. Not only do the heavens declare the glory of God, but His Word, the law of the Lord is perfect. It converts the soul. More to be desired are these words than gold. We are to love them. This word, to know God, is a word of relationship. It's not just about what we know in our head. It is about the relationship of knowing Him. This is why this word is used in John chapter 10. You don't have to go there this morning, but in John chapter 10, Jesus said, I am the Good Shepherd. My sheep hear My voice and they follow Me. And I give unto them eternal life. And He says in that passage, in John chapter 10, He says, I am the Good Shepherd and I know My sheep and I am known by Mine. It is a word of relationship. The sheep will not follow a stranger. They will only follow their shepherd. Do you know them? Do you know whom you believe in? Probably the scariest passage in all the scripture that I can think of that makes me tremble is in Matthew chapter 7. When Jesus closes the Sermon on the Mountain, He said, there will be many that will stand before Me on that day and they will say, Lord, in Your name we did this, in Your name we did that. And He will say to them, I never knew you. You see what the initiative is again? We put all the initiative on us knowing God, but the initiative in Scripture really is on what? Does God know you? Are you known of God in Christ? I never knew you." Seek the Lord while He may be found. Seek Him. You say, I don't know if He knows me. Do I know my name is written in heaven? Is my name in the Lamb's Book of Life? And you wonder that question. If He puts that yearning in your heart to know Him, the Scripture commands you, seek Him. Make Him your goal. Make Him your primary pursuit. When you get up in the morning, read the Word. When you go to bed at night, read the Word. When you get up in the morning, seek Him in prayer. When you wake in the middle of the night, seek Him and cry out to Him. And the Bible says, if you draw near to God, He will draw near to you. My friend, He wants to know you. But you must seek Him. And you will find Him. for not one of us wants to hear those words. Depart from me. I never knew you." In spite of the fact that he personally represented some of the most publicly celebrated athletes and coaches in America, men like Bill Parcells and others, Robert Fraley was really a very private man. On October the 25th, 1999, Robert, his colleague Van Arden, their friend, a very well-known golfer named Payne Stewart, and three others climbed on the private jet of Payne Stewart. Their expected touchdown was two hours later at Love Field in downtown Dallas. But when the wheels of their airplane left the runway in Orlando that morning, safely retracting into their appointed hollows, it would be their last flight. Because of the presence of the reigning U.S. Open golf champion, Payne Stewart, on the plane, his plane, the unfolding epic flight of a seemingly pilotless aircraft screaming through the October sky. Robert Fraley's privacy was about to be exploded all about the world. Within an hour of liftoff, news stations were interrupting their broadcasts with live reports. A private jet owned by Payne Stewart seemed to be flying on its own. Air traffic controllers cleared the airspace by diverting commercial aircraft so as not to interfere with the path of this unmanned airplane. Military jets, F-16s, were summoned to provide escort. The F-16 plane flying closely radioed back that the windows seemed to be frosted from the inside. Experts were consulted as to why. Decompression of the cabin. Estimates, they were flying at 46,000 feet. Estimates of temperatures inside the cabin were 70 degrees below Fahrenheit. Seemed to be the most plausible scenario. Death was certain. Three hours later, the Learjet, having mercifully ran out of fuel, plummeted to the ground in a remote portion of northeast South Dakota. Thousands of shards lay smoldering on the ground. Pictures of the scene were broadcast all around the world. Robert Fraley's family and friends gathered to say goodbye to their friend. Eulogies, words of comfort from scripture were delivered with dignity and passion. Every man on the plane, solid, Bible-believing, born-again Christian. As the service drew to a close, the piano player began the opening strains of a simple melody, I know whom I have believed. A radiant young woman stood at the single microphone and with a voice as clear and strong as the character of this precious friend sang each of the verses and then the powerful refrain. I know not why. I know not why. But I know whom I have believed. And I am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day. As she sang the last verse, it almost felt as if the songwriter had had a divine premonition. I know not when my Lord may come at night or noonday fair, nor if I walk the vale with Him or meet Him in the air. Audible gasps came from many of those who were stunned with the ominous impact of the moment. Our friend, Robert, his three colleagues and two pilots, all believers, had been taken midair. What they thought was a routine flight from Central Florida to Central Texas had become a resplendent one-way excursion to Georgia. Let us close. The Apostle Paul is probably, with your heads bowed and your eyes closed, the greatest illustration in the Scripture of a man who was willing to trade the rags of beggarly human religion for the riches of Christ. He did so at great personal expense. And he said in Philippians chapter 3, that all the things that are gained for me, I have counted as dung that I might know Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which would come from keeping of the law, but the righteousness which is of Christ and Christ alone. I imagine as we close this morning, there's someone here who you've maybe even been very religious. Maybe you're a snowbird. You're kind of a seasoned citizen amongst us. And you've been very religious all your life. And you're coming to the tail end of your life perhaps. And as you look back on your life, you can't really say that there's been a time in your life when you know you were repentant of your sin and you came to faith in Christ. Although you've maybe lived a good life and you've been an honest businessman or a wonderful caregiver as a mother, if you met your God today, He would say unto you, despite everything you've done, I never knew you. The Bible says repent and turn to Christ. It's not a formula prayer, is it? Because ritual does not save. It is the moving of a human heart. I'm there in your seat this morning as we sing. You would say to the Lord, Father, I know that I'm a sinner. I know I deserve to go to hell. I know that up to this point You have not known me in this relationship way, but I want to know You. Would you be my Lord and Savior? Would you turn to Him this morning? Maybe you're a young person and the same is true of you. You're raised in a Christian home. You've gone to church here all your life and yet you don't know that your name is written in heaven. Would you turn in repentance to Christ? As we sing this morning and as we close, would you do business with Him where you are? Let's stand together and Matt will lead us in a song as we close.