Psalm 136. Our text will be found
in verses 23 and verse 24. Psalm 136 verses 23 and 24. The title of the message is,
The Memory of God. The Memory of God. The Scripture says, Who hath
redeemed us in our lowest state, for His mercy endureth forever,
and hath redeemed us from our enemies, for His mercy endureth
forever." Believer, let us by our text concerning the memory
of God, who says, the Scripture says, who remembered us in our
lowest state, let us first contrast the memory of God with our own
memory. With our own. Our own memory of Him. How often
do we forget God? Can you count the times during
the day that you and I forget God. I tell you, they're innumerable. They're innumerable. This is
because the mind, like all the other faculties, have been affected
by the fall of Adam. Even because the fall of man
was complete and full, Even so has our mind as well as our soul
been affected by this ruin of Adam. This ruined condition. This means that when Adam sinned,
his nature became absolutely depraved. Depraved. Dead in trespasses and sins. And this corruption This corruption
has passed to us all. Wherefore, the Scripture says,
as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin. So death passed upon all men. For all have sinned. What does this mean when I talk
about total depravity? When I say that a man is totally
depraved, what does that entail? It means that a man is completely,
absolutely incapable by any means of moral character, of religious
deeds or personal obedience or determination, incapable of saving
himself. incapable of saving himself from
the righteous judgment of God. That's what I mean. You are absolutely
incapable of saving yourself. There's nothing you can do. Strive
as you will. If you determine to save yourself
by your own works and character, you will fail. Because you are
depraved by nature. That's what it means. The doctrine
of total depravity is not one that man can know to be true. Now, you can acknowledge this. I can flood your mind with Scripture
as to show you the true depravity of your nature, but you can never
truly know it unless you experience it. You must first experience it
to truly know it. A man may believe that men are
totally depraved, but one who has not had a personal experience
with depravity doesn't know it. If you don't know your own spiritual
impotence, then you know nothing of total depravity. The deadness
of our nature The deadness of our nature is that we cannot
do any good whatsoever. If you have not been made to
see this and experienced the sense of your miserable condition,
your complete corrupt nature, then you will have no need of
a complete Savior. You get that? If you are not
a completely depraved sinner, you have no need of a completely
absolute perfect Savior. Surely, men will say, I need
Jesus to be my Savior. I need His blood. I need His
righteousness. But in order to make it effectual,
in order to make it powerful, I've got to do something. I've
got to add something to it. I must accept Him. I must exercise my will. Or I
must do some religious deeds. I must add something to His work.
If you can add anything to His work, you don't need Him. If you have something to add
or some power by which to make salvation effectual to your soul,
This salvation is, you are saying that salvation is by works and
not by grace, which is completely opposite of what the scripture
tells us. For by what? Grace. You are saved by grace. That is salvation by works and
that flies into the face of holy writ. For all salvation is not
of works, but of the free and sovereign grace of God, as Jonah
said. Salvation is of the Lord. The scripture declares that we
are sinners from the womb. David said, Behold, I was shapen
in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. See, you
didn't become a sinner when you lied. You were already a sinner,
and because you are a sinner, you lied. The Word of God says
that we are born dead in trespasses and sins, and there is none that
doeth good. No, not one. There's none righteous.
And as a result, we are completely depraved of all, and all our
deeds, all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. in the sight of God. Listen to me. I want you to be
very clear. I am not as a man preaching down
to you. I'm as a man preaching to you.
Because I myself am everything I just described to you. I know what I am. I'm exactly
what I described. By nature, depraved. I'm not
one looking down on you or denouncing you, but I am one on the same
level solemnly declaring the truth of our sinful nature. And this complete depravity is
not one that any son of Adam can detach himself from. Even
those of us who have a new nature, who are born again of the Spirit
of God, do we not still have this rotting corpse about our
necks called the old man? The Scriptures are clear that
Paul said this. He said, "...in my flesh dwelleth
no good thing." He said, Who shall deliver me from the body
of this death? He was talking about that depraved,
carnal nature that still exists in His mortal frame. We're not
detached from this. May God the Holy Spirit convince
you of this truth. That we are truly depraved. But behold, there is one who
is made aware of his complete depravity. If one is made aware
of his complete depravity, his complete inability to save himself,
to obtain favor with God, only then will one come as a beggar
to Jesus Christ in need of mercy. Only sinners, absolute sinners
need a complete and absolute Savior. It's only at the feet of Christ
that mercy can be found. And it's only a beggar who has
nothing will cry out for mercy. It was God who sent His Son into
the world to save sinners. This is the gospel. The gospel
is not a creed. It is a person. It is the Son
of God. The Son of God made flesh. He condescended and was made
flesh. He dwelt among us to do what? Why would the Son of God condescend
to take upon Himself flesh? so that he might save his people
from their sins. You see, Jesus came to be the
second Adam. I told you the reason why you
and I forget God is because of the corrupt nature. We forget
God because of the corrupt nature. Which was brought upon us by
our first father, Adam. And he represented us all. But
Jesus is the second Adam. He is a representative man. Jesus
Christ came into the world as a quickening spirit. He came
to restore what He did not take away. He came to obtain righteousness
for His race. And Jesus came to redeem His
people from their sin. by satisfying the justice of
God. This is what he came to do. I'll ask you this, was he successful? Everything I said about Christ
being the Son of God, being made flesh, coming into the world
to obtain righteousness and die for sins, most false religion
will identify with most of that. They'll nod their head. It is
this part that causes men to disagree. Was He successful? This separates the true Christ
from all false Christs. Our Christ was successful. The Lord Jesus Christ came into
the world to save His people from their sins, and He did absolutely
that. He saved His people from their
sins. He said, Lo, I come, in the volume
of the book it is written of Me, to do Thy will, O God. And the Apostle says down in
the next verses, he says, by the witch will, by God's will,
we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
once for all. For by His one offering He hath
perfected forever them that are sanctified. Have you, have you
believed on the Lord Jesus Christ? the successful Savior. Faith
in Christ is not the cause of our salvation. If you believe
in Christ, we are not trusting in our faith. We don't have faith
in our faith. We have faith in the object of
our faith, Jesus Christ. We have faith in Christ. And
know this, our faith is not the cause of our salvation. Nor is it the cause of regeneration,
the new birth. That is the work of God the Holy
Spirit. And so when I ask you, do you
believe on Christ? I'm also asking, are you born again of the Spirit
of God? Are you born again of the Spirit of God? Except you
be born again. Born from above. No man can see
the kingdom of God. That's what Jesus said. Marvel
not, I said to you, you must be born again. The wind bloweth
where it listeth. You hear the sound of it, but
you can't tell where it's coming and where it's going. Even so,
the Spirit of God, even so is everyone that is born of the
Spirit of God. Our Lord Jesus asked His disciples.
He said, who do you say that I am? Peter said, Thou art the Christ,
the Son of the living God. Did our Lord say, well, Peter,
you are so blessed because you figured that out all by yourself?
Peter, you're so blessed because, man, nobody else could figure
it out, but you did. You're so smart. No. He said,
Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood hath not
revealed that to thee. but my Father which is in heaven." Faith in Christ is not an act
of the will, although the will is involved. No man comes to
Christ unwillingly, but no man comes to Christ because of his
will. The will is involved, but this
matter of grace and faith in Jesus Christ, friends, is an
evidence of the new birth. So then, you that believe, you
that do believe, listen to me. Here's God's word to you. Give
thanks. Give thanks. Give thanks unto
the Lord, for He is good. Give thanks. That's what this
whole psalm is about. It is about giving thanks. Give thanks unto the God, for
He is good. Give thanks unto God of gods. Oh, give thanks to the Lord of
lords, to Him alone who doeth great wonders. Give thanks. Give thanks to Him who saved
us by His free grace. But I'll ask you, believers,
you who know your depravity, you who know that Jesus is the
Christ, the successful Savior, you who believe, are we not so
prone to forget? We are. We are. He who has chosen us, redeemed
us, and called us to life and faith, and done so many great
things for us, and yet we can easily forget Him. This is because, not only because
our soul is depraved, but our mind is corrupt. I'll illustrate. I'll give you
an example of this. Is this not clearly seen how
we remember such worthless things and forget important things?
You ever get a tune stuck in your head and you can't stop
remembering it? How silly. We get silly things
stuck in our head. We remember all kinds of songs
and jokes. Oh my goodness, we can remember
those coming and going. But I'll tell you what, as soon
as the last prayer is prayed, I want you to come back and tell
me everything I said. As soon as the last prayer is
prayed, our minds are like broken cisterns. They begin to leak.
And we soon walk out the door and forget God. Oh, believer, there is little
or no comfort in our ability to remember God. Isn't that so? You find any comfort in your
ability to remember God? I don't. Won't find any comfort
at all. Surely the scripture encourages
us to remember. In Psalm 103 it said, Bless the
Lord, O my soul. Listen, forget not all his benefits. It encourages us to remember.
But I'll tell you what, it doesn't encourage us to depend on our
memory of God. Yet we do forget. But herein
is the comfort, believer, Here's the comfort for us who are in
Christ. Listen. God does not forget you. There's the comfort. There it
is. Who remembered us in our low estate. Give thanks unto
God who hath remembered us in our low estate. You know, the
first five times the word remember is used in Scripture, it's not
talking about man, it's talking about God. God remembered Noah. That's the first time. The second
time is when God put the rainbow in the sky and He remembered
His covenant. that he made with man. The third
time is when he remembered Abraham and took Lot out of Sodom. And
the fifth time was the time he remembered Rachel to open her
womb and give her Joseph. The first time remember is used
as regards to man was when the butler of Pharaoh forgot Joseph. He did not remember, it's a negative.
God remembered, positive. The butler forgot, negative. But here in our text, this remembrance
of God is concerning the children of Israel. Concerning the children
of Israel in their low estate. Believer, be thankful unto God
who remembered Israel. who was under the rule of the
taskmaster Pharaoh, under the weight of their chains, in the
lowest state of slavery. But Jehovah looked upon them
and pitied them. He heard their cries. Why? In Exodus 2, verse 12, I think
it is, it says, The Lord heard their groanings, and He remembered
His covenant. He remembered. Believer, is this
not better seen for us? Are we not truly Israel? That nation of Israel was only
a picture. It was only a type of you and
me. The church. God's elect. We are Israel. Let us therefore unite our voice
in thanksgiving to God who has remembered us in our fallen estate. He has remembered us. As we have
seen, none of the elect or redeemed of Christ have escaped the lowest
state of depravity. Ephesians 2, go over there, Ephesians
2. I want you to see that the elect
did not escape the depravity of Adam's nature. Ephesians chapter
2, this speaking to the elect, those who are called to faith
in Christ, and you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and
sins. wherein, in time past, you walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the
children of disobedience, among whom also we had our conversation
in time past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of
wrath, even as others. It was God who in love and mercy
quickened us. You that are quickened. What does it mean to be quickened?
It means to be raised from the dead. You that are raised from
the dead. Well, I've never been dead. I'm
not talking to you. I'm talking to those that have
been raised from the dead. Remember your low estate. Does not the scripture often
remind us of our sin? How often does the scripture
remind us of our sin? Can you count? Believer, remember your lowest
state and how it was that God rescued us. We were in the loathsome
captivity. We were like that infant. Remember
the infant that was cast out, polluted in his own blood? That's
us. We were in such a low estate. And God remembered us. Why should God remember such
a one as we such a sinner as we are. Why would God remember
us? He remembered us in that He remembered His covenant that
He made with His Son. That's why He remembers you.
He doesn't remember you because you were intelligent. He doesn't
remember you because you were good. He doesn't remember you
because you remembered Him. He remembers you because He remembers
His covenant that He made with His Son. Consider the very word remember
testifies of previous thoughts. Isn't that right? How can you remember something
that never happened? You can't. And so this testifies
of previous thoughts. So when the scripture says the
Lord remembered us in our lowest state, He remembered to save
us because of His precious love and mercy that He would show
us before the world began. Oh, believer, how loved are you? How loved are you that God would
remember you? God remembered to save us because
He promised to save us. He says in Titus 1-2, in hope
of eternal life, which God that cannot lie promised. When did
He promise that? When did God promise hope and
eternal life? Before the world began. That's when He promised it. That's
when He promised it. And He can't lie. He can't lie. God, an eternal love for us,
promised to Christ. Promised us to Christ. I like
this, He betrothed us to Christ. He betrothed us, like a father
would betroth a woman to his son. He determined to give us
to His Son. In eternal love, He promised
Christ to give us eternal life and that He should represent
us. Now, has Christ come in the flesh
and accomplished salvation? Yes. Yes, He has. He has obtained
righteousness and by His blood atoned for all the sins of His
people. And God did testify of it, raised
Him from the dead, set Him on the throne of glory, and where he sits now making
intercession for all of his people, and having been promised of God
that he should be given a people by the purchase of his blood, who then will stop him from getting
his people? Who? No one. No one will stop God from giving
eternal life to his people. No one. Praise God, not even
us. Not even us. Glory to God, for
He will not forget one of those in low estate. He will not forget
one for whom Christ has shed His blood. But all shall be willing
in the day of His power. God has remembered you in your
low estate. He remembered you vile and helpless. and he has given you life and
faith. Is that not cause to thank God that he will not forget his
covenant towards you? He will not forget. O sinner,
if you are now in such a low estate, I tell you now, cry to
God. I do beseech you by the mercies
of God. I beseech you that you should
be reconciled to God. Second of all, believer, not
only remember God remembered us in our lowest state of depravity,
but listen to me, He remembers you in your lowest state of experience. Experience. Look at this in our text. We
saw that God, look at verse 10, "...to him that smote Egypt in
their firstborn, and brought Israel out from among them with
a strong hand, with an outstretched arm, to him that divided the
Red Sea into parts, and made Israel pass through in the midst
of it, but overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea."
Now, that's salvation. That's a picture of Him delivering
Israel from their lowest state, delivering us from our depravity,
saving us by His grace and by His blood. And you know what
He does? He doesn't stop there. He says, to Him who led His people
through the wilderness. Believer, is that not us traveling
now? That's a picture of you and me
in our experience. We are journeying through this
world And I tell you, it's barren. This world is barren. It has
nothing to offer the believer in Christ. Nothing. But as God led Israel through
the wilderness, listen to me, he will also lead his people
safely home. Believer, let us give thanks
to God who remembers us during our wilderness journey. Remember
that He remembers to supply all of our daily needs. Have you
found that to be true? Believer, have you not found
that to be true? You bet we have. Are you fretful concerning your
earthly needs? Do you wonder if God has forgotten
you? Or somehow you think his power is diminished that he cannot
supply your needs. I tell you too often we question
God's memory. We do. Lord, have you forgotten? Israel questions God's memory
in the wilderness. They said, yea, they spake against
God. They said, can God furnish a
table in the wilderness? How in the world is God going
to do this? Look at these people here. There's 600,000 men besides
women and children in the middle of the desert. How is God going
to furnish a table? It was so desperate a situation
that Moses himself questioned it. And what did God say? God said,
is my hand whack short? Is my power too short that I
can't provide a table? He said, you'll see whether my
word shall come to pass or not. Did He not bring water out of
the rock? Did He not provide so much, so
much I was reading this about the quails. This time is when
they were questioning Him. And the Scripture says that the
quails came in in such droves that they were a day's journey
in each direction, nothing but quails, two foot high. Nothing but quails, two foot
high in every direction. Did God provide their needs? Believer, do you suppose God
doesn't remember your needs? I tell you He does. Second of all, in our journey
during this world, remember that God remembers the lowest state
of our circumstances. Does not your circumstances fluctuate? Up, down, down, down, down, up,
down, down, down, down, up. The ups are not very many, but
God knows. He knows your circumstance. Believer in Christ, we are not
always allowed to remain on the mountaintops, but often we are
assigned to the valley. As the natural world So are our
experiences. Bright and sunny days turn to
dark and stormy nights. Summer is soon followed by winter. Even so, in our journey of experience,
all sorts of disappointments, griefs, afflictions, losses,
sorrows truly bring us low. Friends forsake us. They fail
us. and they forget us. But God remembered us. He has never forgotten you, no
matter what your circumstance is. Matter of fact, He is the
orchestrator of your circumstance. Consider that our Lord Jesus
Christ is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. And thirdly, in our journey in
this world, surely, like Israel, we forget God, we become low
in our hearts, and our hearts become cold and indifferent,
and we leave our first love. Even in such a cold and hardened
state, God never forgets you. Only by the warmth of his unfailing
love is our cold heart thawed. Only by hearing of His goodness
and grace causes us to remember Him. But He never forgets us,
no matter what your state, no matter how low things come. And when you come to death, when
you come to death, your eyes are dim and you can't even remember
your own name. He does not forget you. He will not forget you. Is this not cause for us to be
thankful? Even when we forget God, He does
not forget. us. He says to us, fear not. Fear not. I'll read it to you
in Isaiah 41. 41 verse 10. Fear
not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy
God. I will strengthen thee. Yea,
I will help thee. Yea, I will uphold thee with
the right hand of my righteousness. Where are you in that? Well, you're the fearful one. He says, don't be afraid. You're
the one who forgets God. And he says, I'm with you. You've
left me, but I've never left you. You see, you're the one
that's dismayed. And God says, I am thy God. You're the one without strength.
And he says, I will be thy strength. You're the one in need of help.
And he says, I will be thy help. You're the one that needs to
be upheld. And God is the one that upholds you. So really,
is it more important for you to remember God or God to remember
you? It's more important that God
remembers you. I'm so thankful he remembered
me in my lowest state. I'm so thankful he still remembers
me in my lowest state. And he will never leave me nor
forsake me. Is that yours? Is this yours? then you should give thanks to
God. But I've got a lot of problems. Shh! Don't murmur. Give thanks. Yeah, but my... Shh! Give thanks. He doesn't forget you. Because He has redeemed you by
His blood. I thank God that He cleanses
us who believe from all our sin, even our forgetfulness. May God
bless this to our hearts. Let's stand. We'll be dismissed
in prayer.