Turn back to Genesis 8. Tonight,
I'm going to be speaking from Acts chapter 15 on James' response
to lawmongers. James' response to lawmongers. I've entitled this message, God's
Memory. God's memory. And God remembered Noah and every
living thing. Now there the living thing does
not involve the animals because they're mentioned next as the
cattle. Every living thing is every living
thing in Christ. God remembered Noah. And he remembered you. And he remembered me, if we are
among those living things. And God remembered Noah. Now look in chapter 7, verse
17, this speaks of the devastations of the flood. And this is a real
event. That's the way the Lord Jesus
spoke of this event. And the flood was 40 days upon
the earth and the waters increased and bear up the ark And it was
lift above the earth, and the waters prevailed, and were increased
greatly upon the earth. And the ark went upon the face
of the waters, and the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the
earth. And all the high hills that were
under the whole heaven were covered Fifteen cubits upward did the
water prevail, and the mountains were covered. And all flesh died that moved
upon the earth, both of the fowl, and of cattle, and of beast,
and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and
every man, all in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all
that was in the dry land, died. And every living substance was
destroyed, which was upon the face of the ground, both man
and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven,
and they were destroyed from the earth. And Noah only remained
alive in they that were with him in the ark. And the waters
prevailed upon the earth 150 days. Five months, the highest
mountaintop on the earth submerged under the water. 15 cubits above the highest peak,
the whole earth covered with this water and God remembered
Noah and every living thing. God remembered Noah and every
living thing. And God does not forget the way
you and I do. Nor is his memory like ours. Our memory is our interpretation
of events. Our interpretation of what has
taken place. Our interpretation of people
and their motives, which we shouldn't be trying to interpret in the
first place. their actions, but our interpretations
are jaded and skewed. You believe that? We see through our lens and we
never have the facts. Never. But he sees and remembers all
things perfectly. When we forget something, it's
still somewhere in our mind. It may be covered over by layers
of subconscious whatever, but once it goes in our brain, it's
there for good. It might come out sometime at
a time we don't even want it to, but it's there. It's kind of like on the internet.
If something goes out on the internet, it's there somewhere
in cyberspace, and it can come up at any time. That's our memory. God's memory, God's forgetfulness
is not like that. As I said, when we forget, it's
still there, but God's forgetfulness is not like ours. When he forgets,
there is nothing there to remember. It can't be brought back up at
a later date. Now, that's glorious. God remembered Noah and every
living thing whom he foreknew. Whom he did foreknow. God remembered Noah and every
living thing. And if you and I have life before
God, we are remembered as well. Every living thing is always
on God's mind and God's heart, always. Now, I want you to think
of how much time you spent not even thinking about the Lord.
You may go an entire day and not even remember his existence.
You're going on through your busy, whatever it is we're doing. The Lord's never like that. He
is never like that. Every believer, every living
thing is always on his mind all the time. God remembered Noah. Listen to this scripture from
Jeremiah 29 verse 11. God says, I know the thoughts
I think of you. Speaking of every believer. I
know the thoughts, I think, of you, thoughts of peace, not of
evil, to bring you to an expected end. In Psalm 139, verses 17 and 18,
the psalmist says, how precious are thy thoughts unto me, O God. How great are the sum of them,
If I should count them, they're more in number than the sand. And Noah has been shut up in
that ark for 150 days. And I imagine it was pretty dark
in that ark. It only had one window. And I
don't know if they had torches going on in three different places.
Perhaps they did. But Noah was in there five months. and the Lord remembered Noah
and every living thing. Let me show you a couple of scriptures
about God's memory. Turn to, you're there in Genesis,
turn just over to Genesis 19. Now you'll hear the gospel in
this verse of scripture. You remember Sodom. And God raining
fire and brimstone on that place. And Lot was there. Lot was there. Now look what this scripture
says. And it came to pass when God
destroyed the cities of the plain that God remembered Abraham. And sent Lot out of the midst
of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities. in which Lot dwelt. Do you see the gospel there?
God remembered Christ. And that's why Lot got out of
that city. No other reason is given. God
remembered Christ. Turn to Isaiah chapter 49. Verse 15, can a woman forget her sucking
child that she should not have compassion
on the son of her womb? Yes. They may forget. Yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon
the palms of my hands. That's his wounds. They're always
there. In heaven, every scar the Lord
received on earth is there. Thy walls. are continually before
me. God remembered Noah. And he remembered him because
of the covenant that he'd made with him. Look in Genesis 6,
verse 18. But with thee will I establish
my covenant and thou shalt come into the ark. I love that. I
will, you shall. That's the way God's grace works.
I will, you shall. Look in chapter nine, verse 14. And it shall come to
pass when I bring a cloud over the earth that the bow shall
be seen in the cloud, talking about the rainbow, and I will
remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every
living creature of all flesh, and the water shall no more become
a flood to destroy all flesh, and the bow shall be in the cloud,
and I will look upon it, that I may remember the what? the everlasting covenant. Same covenant David spoke of
when he said, although my house be not so with God, yet hath
he made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things. And sure, now would you turn
to Exodus chapter Verse 24, or verse 23, And it came to pass, in the process
of time, that the king of Egypt died, and the children of Israel
sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried. And their cry came up unto God
by reason of the bondage, And God heard their groaning, and
God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with
Jacob. And God looked upon the children
of Israel, and God, what? What? Had respect unto them. Now that is a, I don't even know what to say.
God respecting me? You know, respect is the foundation
of a good relationship, isn't it? If you don't have respect,
you can't have a good relationship. It's the foundation of a good
relationship. Now do you remember when God
had respect to Abel and to his offering. Now, because of the
covenant, because of the blood of the everlasting covenant,
the God of glory actually respects every believer. Respect. That's just an amazing thought,
but here we have it. God had respect. The psalmist said he hath remembered
his covenant forever, the words which he commanded to a thousand
generations. His covenant, his decree, his
word that he commanded to a thousand generations. I love the thought
of the decree of God. I have declared the decree, thou
art my son, this day have I begotten thee. And all of his decrees
come from that one decree concerning his son. His covenant is his eternal covenant. And every believer is remembered
just like God remembered Noah, just like God remembered the
children of Israel, through the blood of Christ, through the
union with Christ. As He is, so are we in the world.
Does God respect Jesus Christ? Oh, the infinite respect He has
for Him. And that's what He has for every
believer. Now, in Psalm 71 16, we read, I have made mention of thy righteousness,
even thine only. You know, I quote that a lot.
I've made mention of thy righteousness, even thine only. But do you know
that word made mention is the same word translated remembered. I have remembered thy righteousness,
even thine only. Now, these are David's words.
I've remembered thy righteousness. You know, I do remember this
by the grace of God. I remember that the righteousness
of Christ is my personal righteousness before God. That's the only hope
I have, is that his righteousness is literally my personal righteousness
before God. I love that scripture in Revelation
19, eight of the fine linen, clean and white. This is the
righteousness of Christ imputed to the saints. No, it doesn't
say that. It is, but it doesn't say that. It says, this is the
righteousness of the saints. I will remember thy righteousness
even thine only be. You know who else says this?
God says this. I will remember thy righteousness. Speaking of the righteousness
and merits of Jesus Christ, his only begotten son, I will remember
thy righteousness, even thine only. Now, one of the things
I love about the gospel is we're not given any multiple choice
in it. There's only one righteousness. There's only one. You believe
that? There's only one. He is. And his righteousness is the
only one to be remembered. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone that believeth. And what that
means is every believer stands before God in a state of sinlessness. Now you're aware of your sin.
I'm aware of my sin. But every believer stands before
God sinless. Now, that's just, that can't
be understood so much as believed. You believe that. I've made mention
of thy righteousness, even thine only. And then the prophet Habakkuk
prayed in Habakkuk 3, 2, in wrath, remember mercy. In wrath. Remember, there's God's
memory. In wrath, remember mercy. Now that is exactly what was
going on during that darkness that covered the earth when God
was pouring out his just wrath upon his son. Now remember I
said just wrath. Absolutely righteous wrath. Jesus Christ never sinned. Perfect. Kept God's law perfectly. Never thought of sin. He never
sinned. We know that, don't we? Why was
God's just wrath on him? Because the sins of every living
thing, all of his elect, were made his so that he was literally
guilty of the commission of them. Somebody says, explain that to
me. I can't explain that. Just believe it. Just believe
it. He was made sin. And God's just
wrath was coming upon him. And oh, in his wrath, that was
the gravest display of his mercy. Never has mercy been seen more
clearly than this exhibition of His wrath. In wrath, remember
mercy. And you know, even in our experiences,
sometimes you feel like perhaps things are not going the way
you'd want them to anyway. Troubling times, well, it's all
mercy. Even if it feels like wrath,
it's all mercy. Ye fearful saints, fresh courage
take. The clouds you so much dread
are big with mercy and shall break in blessings on your head.
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust him for his
grace. Behind a frowning providence,
he hides a smiling face. In wrath, remember, Mercy. Psalm 25, 6, and 7, let me quote
this to you. Remember, O Lord, thy tender
mercies and loving kindness, for they have ever been of old.
Remember, O LORD, thy mercies and lovingkindness, for they've
ever been of old. Remember not the sins of my youth,
nor my transgressions. According to thy mercy, remember
thou me for thy goodness sake, O LORD." Now here he says, Lord,
don't remember my sins. sins have you committed that
you wish it never happened, and you wish you couldn't even remember? Well, the Lord's memory is not
like ours. Listen real carefully. He said
in Hebrews 8, verse 12, and it's a quotation from Jeremiah 31,
I will be propitious to their iniquities. and their sins and
iniquities, I will remember no more." Now, how is it that God can look
at me or you and say, I don't remember any sin. God whose memory is perfect.
God who cannot forget. says to every one of his people,
what sin? I do not remember any sin. How
can that be? Listen to this scripture from
Jeremiah 50 verse 20. In those days, the iniquity of
Israel shall be sought for and there shall be none. God's the one doing the looking.
You know, I couldn't help but think that Lynn asked me to look
for things and it never works. I might be looking right at it,
I don't see it. She finds it immediately. I'm sure you women
can say the same thing about many of your husbands. But when
God looks for something, he always sees if there's something there
to be seen. But the iniquity of Israel shall be looked for
and there shall be none. and the sins of Judah, and they
shall not be found." Now, how can THAT be? Isaiah 43, verse
25 says, I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions
for my own sake, not for your sake, not in response to something
YOU'VE done. I'm doing this for my glory.
I, even I am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for my
own sake, and will not remember thy sins. You know why they're
not remembered? They've been blotted out. They've
been put away. They are not. You see, Christ accomplished
this for every sinner that he died for. They never sinned. You know, just that thought,
and then I think of people talking about the judgment of believers
for their sins and rewarded according to how good they've been or penalized
for how bad they've been. That's so foolish. That's so
dishonoring to the glory of Jesus Christ. He made every believer
to be without sin. I can jump for joy over that,
without sin. Psalm 106, 14, the psalmist said,
Remember me, O Lord, with the favor thou bearest unto thy people. Don't you want that? Remember
me with the favor thou bearest unto thy people. Oh, visit me with thy salvation. Listen to this scripture with
regard to God's memory. I love this one. Psalm 103, 14
says, he knoweth our frame. He remembereth that we are dust. He remembers that. Somebody says,
I'm disappointed in myself. Yeah, I am too, but Lord knows
you. He knows you're nothing but dust.
He knows I'm nothing but dust. As a father pitieth his children,
the same psalm, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. He knows
our frame. You don't really know yourself,
he does. I love that scripture where the
disciples are asleep while the Lord is praying in Gethsemane's
garden. He told them to watch and pray
and all of them fall asleep. And you know what he said looking
at his disciples? He said, the Spirit is willing.
but the flesh is weak. I never get discouraged when
I see people sleeping while I'm preaching. Well, I do, I get
irritated, but I've realized what's going on, you know, flesh,
flesh. Psalm 136, 23 says, he remembered
us in our lowest state for his mercy. endureth forever. He remembered Noah and all living
things. And we all have Noah in common,
just like we all have Adam in common. Every one of us came
out of Noah. He remembered Noah and every
living thing. Now, one moment's forgetfulness
on God's part would be our everlasting destruction, wouldn't it? But oh, the memory of God. Now,
would you turn with me to Luke chapter 23? This happened some 2,000 years
after the great deluge, the great flood, Luke 23. God's memory. Three men at this time are nailed
to a cross. One in the middle, the Lord Jesus
Christ. and one on his right hand and
one on his left. Now the one in the middle is
the Son of God dying for sin. The other two are examples of
all men. I love the way the scripture
does this. Here are the two men. One dying in his sin and the
other dying to sin. Now me and you are represented
by one of these two thieves, one dying in his sin and one
dying to sin. Now we know from both Matthew
and Mark's account that both of these men were, the Scripture
says, reviling Jesus Christ. They were in pain. They hated
the one beside them. They made fun of him. They said,
if you're the Christ, come down from the cross and bring us down
too. Prove yourself. They were just filled with venom
toward the Lord Jesus Christ, just like everyone else was. But something happened. Something happened. Look in verse
39 of Luke chapter 23. And one of the malfactors, which
were hanged, railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself
and us. But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, Dost thou not fear God? He knew that that one beside
Him nailed to a cross was nobody less than God. God the Son. Do you know that? Do you believe that? Don't you fear God, seeing thou
art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we
receive the due reward of our deeds. This man believed that
everything he got by way of the wrath of God was exactly what
was coming to him, what was happening to him. was an act of justice. We're getting exactly what we
deserve. You wouldn't have heard this
fellow trying to maintain his goodness or his free will or
his ability to, no, not at all. We're getting exactly what we
deserve. Verse 41, the last line, but
this man hath done nothing amiss. He believed that that one who
was hanging beside him had never sinned. Do you believe that? Do you believe
in the utter and perfect sinlessness of Jesus Christ? He's done nothing
amiss. Verse 42, and he said unto Jesus,
Lord. John Calvin said that is the
greatest instance of faith in all of history, and I would agree.
Everybody was making fun of Christ. Everybody was mocking him. He
seemed so helpless. He was nailed to a cross. And
that thief looked at him and said, Lord, he knew he was the
Lord. He knew he was Lord of creation.
He knew he was Lord of providence. Everything that was happening
was according to his will. He knew he was the Lord of salvation.
Lord, remember me when you come into
your kingdom. Here's the point. He didn't even
conceive of a Christ who could be anything less than perfectly
successful. You're not going to stay here.
You're going to come back as a mighty reigning king, having
successfully done whatever it was you intended to do. You're
gonna come back as a mighty king. Now, Lord, remember me. This man understood that if Christ
remembered him, nothing else needed to be said. That's it. If Christ remembered him, And
if Christ remembers me, if he's one of mine, I represented him, I kept the law for him, I put
away his sin, he's one of mine, does anything else need to be
said? No. Now that's God's memory. Remember me when you come back
as a mighty reigning king, having accomplished all that you set
out to do. Now, God's memory, he remembered
Noah and every living thing. And he remembers because of the
covenant. He remembers because of his righteousness. In wrath,
he remembers mercy. He doesn't remember my sins.
He remembers our frame that were dust. He remembers everyone with the
favor he bears to his people, every one of his. And on Judgment
Day, when my name is called, the president accounted for,
he's mine. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for your memory, that you remember your son, that
you remember your covenant, that you remember his righteousness. Lord, how we thank you that you
remember that we're dust. And Lord, how we thank you of
the memory of thy blessed son. And Lord, we pray the same thing
the thief did. Lord, remember me when you come
into your kingdom. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.