“Cessna 218, this is Air Force 163 —do you read me?” “Cessna 218, this is Air Force 163—do you read me?” Over and over again this question was asked of Cessna 218, but with no reply. Captain Daniel Zoreb of the North American Air Defense Command reported: “I could see the running lights, but the cockpit was dark.” He and several other Air Force jet pilots had been ordered to follow Cessna 218. But why? What was all the concern for Cessna 218?
“We lost radio contact with Cessna 218 about 30 minutes after takeoff,” reported the airport flight controller from Shreveport, Louisiana. “The pilot had requested a new route to Baton Rouge to avoid a thunderstorm. He was given a new heading and told to climb to 23,000 feet.”
Cessna 218 climbed right through 23,000 feet and kept climbing never veering from its east-northeasterly course. It passed over Memphis, Tennessee at 28,000 feet—alarmingly high for a plane that size! Cessna 218 was off-course and out of contact!
There are many today who are “off-course.” They are not proceeding in the course that God desires for them. The Lord Jesus Christ could say, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.” John 14:66Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6). Yet man goes on, on his own course “out of contact” with God’s pleading. “God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not.” Job 33:1414For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not. (Job 33:14).
“It was kind of eerie,” said Caain Zoreb. “We found the plane at 40,000 feet over Raleigh, North Carolina traveling at 250 miles per hour. It appeared to be on automatic pilot.”
How like Satan this is, who, as “the God of this world,” has millions on “automatic pilot” and “hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ... should shine unto them.” 2 Corinthians 4:44In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. (2 Corinthians 4:4). They are going through this world ignoring the earnest pleading of the Spirit of God to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour.
Cessna 218 ran out of fuel four hours after takeoff. It was 120 miles off the coast of Virginia over the Atlantic Ocean when Captain Zoreb saw it dive, spinning and tumbling into the ocean! “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man; but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Proverbs 14:1212There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. (Proverbs 14:12).
“We have no idea what did happen to Cessna 218,” said a spokesman for the Air Force. “It appears that oxygen may have been leaking from the plane and they didn’t know it. It caused them to black out and the automatic pilot took over.” Lack of oxygen puts a person into a dream-like state, or euphoria, in which he thinks conditions seem to be improving. The person soon loses all sense of direction and then becomes unconscious. Is this what happened to the pilot and passenger of Cessna 218?
Officials can do nothing more than wonder. They know that it was 1,000 miles off-course and out of radio contact at the time it crashed into the ocean. They had tried everything in their power to help the pilot and his passenger, but without success. God, too, has done all that He can for you. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down His life for His friends.” John 15:1313Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13). He sent His only begotten Son to this world. The Lord Jesus Christ went to Calvary’s cross to suffer God’s judgment for man’s sin. Yet there are many who ignore God’s warning of judgment and go on in a path that leads to a lost eternity. They go on in the euphoria that “conditions are getting better” and that everything will be okay. They are unconscious of the claims of God’s love, rejecting His offer of mercy until it is too late. Accept Him now into your heart. “Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” 2 Corinthians 6:22(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) (2 Corinthians 6:2).
ML-05/04/1980