Let's ask our Lord's blessing
on the service this evening. Our Father, as we call upon You,
we do so in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we thank You
all for the blessed time that we have to meet together. Lord, we ask You blow upon your
work of grace. The Lord calls us to hear. May Christ be honored. Lord,
I pray that you would bless the word to the calling out of your
sheep and the comforting of your people, for Christ's sake. Amen. Turn with me to the book of Jeremiah
chapter 2. Jeremiah chapter 2, verse 1 and 2 says, The word of the Lord came to
me, saying, Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus
saith the Lord, I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the
love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the
wilderness, in a land that was not sown. I remember thee." You know, some
of the most precious blessings that's found in all of Scripture
deals with this blessed thought of remembrance. Remembering. That blessed calling to mind
concerning God's mercy and compassion and love. You know, we're prone
to forget. And we need to have our heart
rekindled by the Word of God. by the Spirit of God. To have
our mind brought back. We want to be reminded. We need
to be reminded. I need to be told again of God's
love for me. You might say, you need to be
told that? Yes, I do. I need to be told
again how the Father chose to show mercy to this sinner. I need to hear again how the
Lord Jesus Christ was made sin. I need to muse upon that thought
That thought that I cannot possibly enter into the depth. I need
to be told again how the Spirit of God in power, in mercy, absolutely
conquered this sinner. And in that divine conquest called
me. unto the Lord Jesus Christ. The first time that the word
remember is used in all of Scripture, it had to do with God's promise
to have mercy on mankind. This is after the flood and the
waters had receded, and the Lord made His promise to Noah, and
He said, I will remember My covenant which is between me and you,
and every living creature of all flesh, and the waters shall
no more become a flood to destroy all flesh." This world stands
absolutely safe from being destroyed by water, according to God's
Word. He said, I'm making a covenant
with you and with all living creatures. I'm not going to destroy
the world with water again. He's going to burn it up. But
he said, I'm not going to destroy it with water again. Remembering. Remembering. I want us, before
we partake of the Lord's table, I want us to look at three precious
things about remembrance. The first one is found right
here in this passage of Scripture, Jeremiah 2.2. Here's a precious
promise. It's a precious promise. It's
a promise from the very mouth of God, the very heart of God,
and He said this, verse 2, in the ears of Jerusalem. Not
that city that's over in that country, as I've said before,
but to the heavenly Jerusalem. The city of God. The bride of
Christ. The one that that city represents. That heavenly Jerusalem that
comes down. out of heaven, where all the
people of God shall eternally dwell in peace, Jerusalem, the
city of peace. Say and cry in the ears of Jerusalem,
saying, Thus saith the Lord, I remember you." Not everybody. Not all of the
world. I remember you." What a token
of love that the Lord relates concerning His people. I delight to think upon you. It is my joy to think upon you. And knowing that the Lord never
changes, I know this. As he thinks upon his people
right now, the way he thinks upon his people right now, there's
never been a time that he didn't think upon his people just exactly
that way. He's never changed. In the portals, I tried to think
of a word today while I was writing this message out. How do you relate eternity? I
don't even know how to say it. But from all eternity, the Scripture
says when there was no depths, when there were no fountains
abounding with water, when there was no mountains, when the Lord
had not made the earth. That's all recorded in Proverbs
8. When there was nothing else but God. In the beginning, God. It was God. The Lord said when there was
only Himself, triune God, the Lord said that He was ever before
the Father, Spirit, the Son. God in triunity. The Lord Himself, the Messiah,
the Christ, before He was ever actually made flesh, before the
Word was made flesh, and I'm telling you right now, we're
over our heads, but before the Word was made flesh, in the beginning
was the Word. And the Word was with God. And
the Word was God. John 1.14 says, And the Word
was made flesh. He actually took upon Himself
the nature of humanity. But before He did that, He said,
I was ever brought up with Him. I was daily His delight. He said, I was ever rejoicing
before Him, rejoicing in the habitable part of His earth. And His delights were with the
sons of men. He said, I ever remembered Jerusalem. My delight was ever with my people. before they were ever brought
into this earth, before man was ever created. He said, I knew you. What he
told Jeremiah, he said, before I formed you in the belly. I
knew you. My delights were with the sons
of men. His blessed remembrance. of those that He everlastingly
loved before they were actually brought into this earth. Those that were chosen in Him,
placed in Him. Before He was actually visibly
to see them, He ever saw them. He was ever their surety. They
were always there. I always remembered you. I've
always known you. I've always had you as my delight. They were written in Him who
is the Book of Life before the foundation of the world. Psalm
139.16 says, Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect,
And in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance
were fashioned." The margin of my Bible says what days they
should be fashioned. Our members in continuance were
fashioned when as yet there was none of them. I've always remembered you. You
cry and you say, to Jerusalem, I remember thee." When he made men, when man was
formed out of the dust, when he was ever remembering
his people, when he formed Adam and Eve, they began to have kids
and the earth began to multiply and to be replenished. Whenever God Almighty was placing
people where they were, He placed everybody in this world according
to where He was going to call His elect out. He put this father
and this mother together because there was going to be one of
His sheep born. And He put these over here and
He put these over here. Listen to this. Deuteronomy 32.8.
The Most High divided to the nations their inheritance. When He separated the sons of
Adam, He set the bounds of the people according to the number
of the children of Israel. He's ruling and reigning. Ordering
all things according to His absolute perfect counsel. Why? Because He said, I remember thee. I remember thee. You're going
to be born. And I'm going to keep you. And
I'm going to call you. And I'm going to have you with
me. Because I remember thee. It's like when that high priest
back in the wilderness. When that high priest wearing
that breastplate, he had a breastplate and he had 12 stones. I've told you this before. Each
one of the stones was written one of the tribes of Israel.
And that breastplate was on his heart. And he would go in as
the representative of His people. Picture Christ, the great high
priest making intercession, ever living to make intercession.
But that high priest in the wilderness was a picture type. Had a stone
on each shoulder. Six names, six tribes here and
six tribes bearing up. The government was on His shoulders.
I remember that. And just as that great high priest
ever stands, ever living, right now, answering for us, He says,
I'm remembering you. I've always remembered you. That
is a precious promise. I remember thee. Secondly, turn
to Luke 23. Luke 23. Here's a precious request.
Luke 23. Verse 39 to 42. I mean, this
is a blessed, precious request. Luke 23, 39. One of the malefactors
which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save
thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked
him, saying, Dost not thou fear God? seeing thou art in the same
condemnation, and we indeed justly. For we receive the due reward
of our deeds. But this man hath done nothing
amiss." And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest
into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily
I say unto thee today, shalt thou be with me in paradise." Oh, dear believer, does that
request ring true to your heart? Lord, remember me. Lord, when you enter into your
kingdom, when you gather all of your sheep together, when
you separate sheep from the goats. In that great day, Lord, when
all the accounts are going to be settled, Lord, remember me
in mercy. Lord, You that have lived for
Your people, I know that all of Your people are going to be
robed in Your righteousness in your perfect obedience before
the law. Lord, you lived for your people,
came into this world, and you did only, always those things
that pleased the Father. Lord, remember me with your life. You who said that you laid down
your life for the sheep. Lord, You who redeemed Your bride,
Your elect, Your chosen by the shedding of Your own blood at
Calvary. You who according to 2 Corinthians
5.21 was made sin for us. You who knew no sin. Lord, remember
me in redemption. You who have entered into glory
And upon your own merit, you ever live to make intercession
for your sheep. Lord, pray for me. Pray for me. Lord, intercede for me. Lord,
would you call my name before the Father? Lord, would you plead
your own merit on my behalf? Lord, remember
me. That thief out there said, we're
getting just exactly what we deserve. Lord, I know what I
am in myself. I know that in myself, I deserve
to die under the penalty of God's law. I know that's what I deserve.
I know that I have no good works to offer you. Lord, all of my
hope is bound up in your mercy. Mercy to remember this sinner
in compassion. Just like that thief on the cross
would say, I'm getting ready to die. I know it's coming. It's just a matter of time. And
when I die, if I don't lift up my eyes out of hell, It's only
going to be because I found grace in your sight. Lord, remember
me. It's my dying request. And then
lastly, thirdly, turn to 1 Corinthians 11. 1 Corinthians 11. Here's a precious exhortation. Here's a precious promise. I
remember thee. Here's a precious request. Remember
me." And here's a precious exhortation, 1 Corinthians 11, 24-25, when
he had given thanks at the Lord's Supper. He took that bread, he'd
break it, and he said, take, eat. This is my body, which is
broken for you. This do in remembrance of me. And after the same manner also,
he took the cup when he had subbed. saying this cup is the new testament
in my blood, this do ye as oft as you drink it in remembrance
of me. Divine mercy is shown here to creatures who
are prone to forgetfulness. Our frame is frail, our memories
are weak. We need to be exhorted to remember
Him. One might ask, are you saying
that I would be prone to forget Him who never forgets me? To forget Him who is eternally
loved and poured out His blood for our redemption? Can it possibly
be? Yeah. And not only possible, but our
conscience confesses to and owns to the crime. Yeah, I forget. How many times during the day
does the cares of this world Because my mind just slipped
away, and I'm thinking about this, and not him. I'm concentrating on things that
are perishing. Is it not so? Do we constantly
remember him? No, sir. No, sir, I don't. And I own the fact that I don't.
When he calls, and my forgetful heart responds with this. Remember in Song of Solomon 5.3.
The bride said, I sleep, but my heart is awake. And he called. And here was the
response of the bride. She said, I've put off my coat. How shall I put it on? I've washed
my feet. How shall I defile them? I think about what a big deal
it is if you're already in bed and the phone rings. Think how sad it is that he would
call and we would think of some excuse. I just don't have time. But the Scripture says that He
in mercy put His hand into the hole of the door, that is, of
my heart. In my vows, my desires were moved
for Him. He knows how to draw His own
to remember Him. Lord, tonight as we eat of Your
supper, may we remember You. in your mercy and grace to us
for Christ's sake.