The church that meets before us ran over considerably, which is okay. They had a visiting speaker, and they told the visiting speaker that there were time limits, and they were ignored. And so he apologized, the pastor did. And that's happened a couple of times, and I said, don't worry about it. I said, I know all about those things, so just take it in the stride and we're going to do fine. Which, by the way, turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The Lord knows our needs when we need him in various situations. You may have probably noticed from time to time over several weeks, months maybe, I've had some difficulty in standing and walking. And that is due to a hip problem that I've been dealing with. I've been to the doctor. Several years ago, I had a very, pretty serious back problem. And I was referred to a very, very good doctor. He took a look at it. He said, it's a herniated disc. He said, I think it's going to clear up itself. He said, let's just give it time. He looked at me and said, by the way, what do you do? I says, I'm pastor of the Dallas Reformed Baptist Church. He says, I'm Presbyterian. He says, we're cousins. I thought you would appreciate hearing that. Letting humor aside, I've, of course, noticeably had some difficulties the last two, three days. So what I'm going to do is just give you a few quick words of review, and then we're going to ask our brother to come and give his testimony, and I've been looking forward to that. But just by a few comments here so that we can take these things with us. Turn with me to Romans 6.6. Romans 6.6. Paul writing to the Romans says, knowing this. Two little words. Knowing this. how important some things are for us to know. That can be true in the secular world, it can be true in the financial world, it can be true in the spiritual world, in the spiritual truths. Paul is saying there's something you know. What is it? knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him. Do we know that? How do we know it? Do we know it mentally? Do we know it spiritually? Do we know it by matter of God's imparting those truths to us in such a way that they become a reality in our life? I'm interested, how many of you know how to swim? Good. As a youngster, I didn't know how to swim at the one point. And some of us guys were organizing, going to a place here in Dallas, a city park, had a swimming pool. built a little differently than most pools. Most pools shallow, midway, deep. This had shallow all the way around, deeper, deeper, deeper, all the way to the center of the pool. I didn't know that. Boy, was I in for a surprise. So here I am getting into the water and splashing around and having a great time, and I step off in the step in the deeper water not knowing how to swim. Guess what? I learned real quick. It wasn't the most graceful style you've ever seen, but I managed to get out and not drown, which was the point. That was the beginning and a very effective beginning of me knowing, learning how to swim. It improved over time, my style. But there are some things we know because we memorize them. A, B, C, D, Two plus two equals four. How do we know that? Well, we memorized it. But I know how to swim, not because of any book I read, but because I had to in order to get out of the deep water, which I did. Now, when it comes to God's truth, and we've been dealing with this topic in Sunday school, knowing, knowing the things of God, knowing the truths of God, and we're bringing in the facet of experiential knowledge. My swimming was experiential knowledge. It was not book knowledge. We can memorize large portions of scriptures. And by the way, let me just suggest, you think about doing that. It's good to remember John 3.16, Romans 3.23, Romans 6.23, Ephesians 2.8 and 9, Psalm 1, Psalm 23, Psalm 51. Those are good. But I'm here to tell you, Not for any other motive than to motivate you. Take my word for it. There's nothing like memorizing entire chapters of the Bible. You say, man, I have a hard time memorizing John 3.16. It's because you don't do it. You don't engage in it. You don't practice it. I'm just going to be very practical for the next few moments. Memorizing a chapter, what do you do? You memorize one verse. And guess what? You memorize the next verse. Then guess what? You memorize those two verses together. And then you start adding the third verse. And you know what? You can memorize Ephesians. In fact, you can memorize the whole book. You say, impossible. No, it isn't. I'm here to tell you, it isn't. Much spiritual truth is conveyed to us because we engrave it in our mind. And guess what? God can bring that to you at the right time in the right place. I can give you some other hints if you're interested. Knowing this, yeah, you can memorize chapters. But do you know the meat? Do you know the depth, the breadth, the personal application of those truths? Think of what Paul said to the Romans, knowing what do you think Paul had in mind as to how they knew it. Did they know letter by letter, word by word? Probably. know other facets of that truth? Yes. Do they know the spiritual implications of those truths? I'm quite certain they do. That is why it's important for you to do your own quality personal Bible reading and study. That's why it's important to have preaching that centers on your spiritual growth in life. The how-tos, yes. But think about what Paul said to the Romans, knowing this. What is it that Paul knew that they knew? What was it? Look at it. Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be the slaves of sin. Do you know that? Well, dear ones, that's why we're here every Lord's Day, is to know these truths that have to do with our own personal spiritual growth. and godly life to honor our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. That ends our review.