The first service that we had
at Grace Chapel, 30 years ago next month, a guy got up and
sang that as a special. It was Jack. I can't remember
his last name. Don't even know where he is now, but he was there.
He came with Jay Wimberly. Jay Wimberly preached first. Anybody remember that? Am I the
only one? I guess I'm the only one who
remembers it. Glenn would remember, but she's not here. So, okay. Turn
back to 1 Timothy chapter four. 30 years ago next month. Wow. Paul says to Timothy, if you do this, you'll be a good
minister of Jesus Christ. I'm interested in that. I want
to be a good minister of Jesus Christ. nourished up, made strong
by words of faith and of good doctrine, the doctrine which
is according to godliness, which you followed after and pursued.
Now, what exactly was it that Timothy was to do to be a good
minister? Look at the simplicity of this.
If you put the brethren in remembrance of these things. What things? Well, everything's said up to
that point. But this is what preaching is. It's bringing to
remembrance. Bringing to remembrance. Bringing
it back to our mind. Reminding of what has already
taken place, what's already been said, and saying it again. Turn
to 2 Peter chapter 1. 2 Peter chapter 1. Verse 12, Peter says, Wherefore,
I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of
these things, though you know them, and be established in the
present truth. Yea, I think it meet as long
as I'm in this tabernacle to stir you up by putting you in
remembrance. knowing that shortly I must put
off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ has
showed me. Moreover, I will endeavor that you may be able after my
decease to have these things always in remembrance, to be
reminded over and over of the gospel. Look what he says in
chapter three, verse one. The second epistle, beloved,
I now write unto you in both which I stir up your pure minds
by way of remembrance. Now, Why is this so important? Why do we always have to be reminded? Because we always forget. Because
we always forget. And we're so quick to forget
the gospel, to forget, to look to Christ when we start looking
within. And two very powerful illustrations of this, one in
the Old Testament, one in the New Testament. What I thought
about was, remember the story in Genesis chapter 40 about the
butler and the baker? They're in prison with Joseph.
And they have a dream, and Joseph interprets that dream for them.
The butler is going to be restored. The baker is going to be beheaded.
He told him that. And he said, now, I've told you
what it means. And I want you to remember me when you come
out. And three days later, the butler
is restored to his place. The baker is beheaded. But you
know what? The butler forgot to tell him about Joseph. He
forgot. And then he said, I, this day,
when he heard about the king having a dream that he couldn't
interpret, he said, I, this day, remember my faults. And he remembered
and then told of Joseph, but a whole chapter is devoted to
someone forgetting something so important. Now, the biggest
example is the Lord's table. Remember what our Lord said? This do. in remembrance of me." Just the fact that he says it
tells us that it's possible for us to forget him. Now it seems,
at first, to gross a crime to lay at the door of a true believer.
Forget him who redeemed me? Forget him who saved me by his
grace? Forget him who loved me with
an everlasting love and called me by his spirit through the
gospel. Forget him who forgave me of all my sins. Forget him
who gave me a new heart. Forget him who's promised to
never leave me nor forsake me. Forget him. Why, that seems impossible,
but alas, it's most real, isn't it? And this shows the reality
and the power of our old man. How can we forget him? Well,
let me show you this forgetfulness. Turn with me to Mark chapter
six. Mark chapter six, beginning in
verse 34. And Jesus, when he came out,
saw much people. and was moved with compassion
toward them because they were sheep not having a shepherd.
And he began to teach them many things. And when the day was
now far spent, his disciples came into him and said, this
is a desert place, and now the time is far past, send them away,
that they may go into the country round about and into the villages
and buy themselves bread for they have nothing to eat. He
answered and said unto them, give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, shall
we go and buy 200 penny worth of bread and give them to eat?
He saith unto them, how many loaves have you? Go and see. And when they knew, they said
five and two fishes. And he commanded them to make
all set down by companies upon the green grass. And they sat
down in ranks by hundreds and by fifties. And when they'd taken
the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven and blessed
and break the loaves and gave them to his disciples to set
before them. And the two fishes divided he among them all. And
they did all eat and were filled. And they took up 12 baskets full
of fragments and the fishes. And they that did eat of the
loaves were about 5,000 men. Now you think of that miracle.
Bread was created. Bread was brought into existence
that was not there before. Christ Jesus shows himself to
be God. Look in chapter, I mean, verse
49, the same chapter. But when they saw him walking
upon the sea, Once again, he's showing himself to be God in
control of the physical laws of nature, breaking the law of
nature. He could do it. He could walk on the water. You
and I can't do that, but he could because he's the Lord of all
physical law. But they supposed it had been
a spirit, and they cried out, for they all saw him and were
troubled. And immediately he talked with them, and saith unto
them, Be of good cheer, it's I, be not afraid. And he went
up into them, into the ship, and the wind ceased. And they
were sore amazed in themselves beyond measure, and wondered,
for they considered not the miracle of the loaves, for their heart
was hardened. Look in chapter 8, in those days
the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus
called his disciples unto him and saith unto them, I have compassion
on the multitude because they have been now with me three days
and have nothing to eat. And if I send them away fasting
to their own houses, they'll faint by the way, for divers
of them came from far. And his disciples answered him,
from whence can a man satisfy these with bread here in the
wilderness? Can you believe they said that? I mean, they just
experienced the feeding of the 5,000. And they said, whence
can a man do this? They forgot. They forgot. And when I see something like
that, I said, how can you forget something like that? The same
way you and I forget the gospel. The same way you and I forget
Christ. Look in Verse 14 of chapter 8, And when He came to His disciples,
He saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes questioning
with Him. And straightway all the people, when they beheld
Him, were greatly amazed and running to Him, saluting Him.
And He asked the scribes, What question ye with them? And one
of the multitude answered and said, Master, I brought unto
thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit. And wheresoever he takes
him, he tears him, and he foams and gnashes with his teeth and
pines away. And I spake to thy disciples that they should cast
him out, and they could not. He answered and said, O faithless
generation, Faithless generation, how long, I'm in the wrong chapter,
I'm sorry. Chapter eight, I was wondering
where I was going with that. Man, what is this? What am I gonna say about this?
I didn't. Verse 14 of chapter eight. Now
the disciples had forgotten to take bread. Neither had they
the ship with them more than one loaf. And he charged them,
saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and
of the leaven of Herod. And they reasoned among themselves,
saying, It's because we have no bread. And when Jesus knew
it, he saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread?
Perceive ye not yet, neither understand? Have your hearts
yet hardened? Having eyes, see ye not? And
having ears, hear ye not? Do ye not remember? When I break
the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments
took you up? And they said unto him, Twelve. And when the seven
among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took
you up? And they said, Seven. And he said unto them, How is
it that you do not understand? This amazing forgetfulness and
hardening shows us how quickly we forget the bread of God's
provision. The bread that gives his life
for the world. And we have to be reminded of
the gospel over and over. That's what preaching is, bringing
these things in remembrance. You know, there's not a day that
goes by where I look to myself at some point and I think, I'm
afraid I'm not saved. I'm afraid I'm not saved. What
if I'm deceived? What if I've been just lying to myself? You know why? I'm looking to
myself once again. I'm not looking to the Lord Jesus.
You know, when I look to Christ, I have assurance. When I look
to him, everything's fine. But there's not a day that goes
by when something like that doesn't happen. And we have to be reminded
over and over and over of the gospel. Now in the context, Paul says to Timothy, if you
put the brethren in remembrance of these things, well, he talked
about the goal of the law, charity out of a pure heart. He talked
about the purpose of the law. The law is good if a man use
it lawfully. Knowing this, that the law is
not made for a righteous man, but for sinners and disobedient. He reminded him of the right
use of the law. And then I need to be reminded of this, my favorite
scripture. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners, of whom I am the chief. I need to be reminded
of that. I get such comfort and such joy when I see myself as
nothing but a sinner and that's the only qualification I need
for Christ to die for me. I don't need anything else. I
love it that it didn't say he came to save elect sinners or
believing sinners or repentant sinners or sensible sinners,
just sinners. I need to be reminded of that.
And I can take my place right there and I can believe Christ
died for me. I needed to be reminded of prayer being made for all
men in chapter two, of the one God and one mediator between
God and men, the man Christ Jesus, him bringing me into God's presence.
I need reminded of that. I need reminded of the great
mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh.
I need to remember. But what I'd like for us to do
is look at what the Bible tells us to remember and not to forget. Turn to 2 Timothy 2. He says, if you put the brethren
in remembrance of these things, you'll be a good minister of
Jesus Christ. Well, I hope to be a good minister
of Jesus Christ tonight. I want to remember what the Lord
tells us to remember. Now look in 2 Timothy 2, verse
8. Remember. Remember. that Jesus Christ of the seed
of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel. Now when you're fearful and when
you're guilty and when you don't know what to do, remember Jesus
Christ was raised from the dead. Why was He raised from the dead?
Because He accomplished what the Father gave Him to do. And
when you're fearful, when you lose assurance, remember Jesus
Christ was raised from the dead. He died, and that's the only
answer I need. Who is he that condemneth? It's
Christ that died, yea rather that's risen again, who is even
at the right hand of God. Now, when you become cold, when
you become hard-hearted, when you become unfeeling, and you
feel like your heart's a stone, Remember that Jesus Christ was
raised from the dead, Paul said, according to my gospel. I love
the way he calls it, my gospel. I love it when the gospel becomes
my gospel. The gospel that saves me and
the resurrection of Christ Jesus from the dead is the best news
I've ever heard. Oh, I love his resurrection,
don't you? Remember that. Don't forget it. Remember that
Jesus Christ of the seed of David, just as the Old Testament said,
was raised from the dead according to my gospel. Now, why did God
raise him from the dead? There's only one reason. God
was completely satisfied with what he did. That's why he raised
him from the dead. And he sat aside with everybody
he represented. Oh, I need to be reminded of
that constantly. Turn to Ephesians chapter two. Ephesians chapter 2, verse 11, wherefore remember, remember, don't forget this,
have this brought back to your mind, wherefore remember that
you, being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who were called
uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision of
the flesh made by hands, that at that time you were without
Christ. Being aliens from the commonwealth
of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having
no hope. and without God in the world. Now you remember that. Remember
the pit from whence you were you. Look in chapter 2 verse
1. And you hath he quickened who
were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein in times past, there
he talks about the times past again, you walked according to
the course of this world. According to the prince of the
power of the air, you walked according to the devil, the spirit
that now worketh in the children of disobedience, among whom also
we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our
flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and the mind. And
we were by nature, the children of wrath, even as others. Now remember what you are by
nature. Remember what you were. Remember what you still are.
You know, it is a blessed thing to realize
that I'm nothing but sin. It's sweet. It's not negative. It is negative in a sense. It's
awful. But it's so easy when you remember what you are, what
you were, what you are. You believe grace then, don't
you? That's the only time you believe, Grace, is when you remember
what you were and what you still are, that old nature that's still
there, what happened as a result of the fall. Remember, without
God, without Christ, without hope, being strangers, remember
that. Don't forget it. Turn to James
1. James 1. Verse 22, But be ye doers of the word,
and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any man
be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a
man beholding his natural face in a glass, he's looking in a
mirror. For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway
forgetteth. what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect
law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful
here, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in
his deed. Now, you keep looking in the
mirror, what do you see? In the mirror of the word, in
the gospel, there's two things you see. There's two things.
First, if you look in the mirror of the word, you see that you're
a sinner. You see that, and if you don't see that, it's because
you're not looking. If you look in the Word, this is the only
thing you can conclude about yourself, that you're a sinner.
But also, looking into this law of liberty, he calls it, he calls
this mirror the perfect law of liberty, you see your liberty
and your freedom in Christ, only by continuing in the Word. Now,
if you don't continue in the word, you'll go out, you'll forget
what manner of man you were. And all of a sudden you'll start
looking to yourself. You'll start looking to others
and you'll start all kinds of problems come from this. We become
self-righteous, hardened, critical when we leave the word, but we're
to continue in the word. If you don't, you look to yourself
instead of Christ. Turn to Luke 17. I like this
Luke 17. The Lord says in verse 32, remember
Lot's wife. Remember Lot's wife. Now what
did Lot's wife do? Well, remember when the Lord
told him to flee, he said, don't look back. And what did Lot's
wife do? She looked back and she became
a pillar of salt. Now, I used to think about that,
and I thought, could I resist not looking back? I mean, if
fire and brimstone came down and destroyed the city, you'd
kind of want to look back and see what it looked like, wouldn't
you? I mean, I know I would. As a matter of fact, I don't think I could
resist doing that, looking back. Well, she looked back, and she
became a pillar of salt. Now, it's not just because she
looked back. Her heart was still there. Her
heart was still there. That's what she really loved.
But the thing about looking back, faith is looking to Christ. Not looking back. It's looking
to the Lord Jesus Christ. If I say, look at me. Look at
me. Run to me. Get to me. Come to
me. Well, if you start looking down
at the ground, you're not going to get there, are you? If you
start looking at your walk, you'll start going in circles. You won't
get to me. You keep your eyes open. on me. If I'm going to
go to that clock, I just keep my eyes on that clock. Don't
look anywhere else. If I look to the side, if I look at you,
I'm in a veer. If I look to my circumstances,
I'm in a veer. If I look backwards to some kind
of experience I had, looking back, trying to find some assurance
from something I did in the past, I'm in a veer. No looking unto
Jesus. Not looking back like Lot's wife,
but looking unto Jesus. Psalm 103. Remember Lot's wife. Don't look back. Look to Christ
only at all times. Psalm 103. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and
all that is within me. Bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and
forget not all His benefits. Sometimes when we're feeling
negative, we think, well, things could be worse, and try to comfort
ourselves with that. No, things couldn't be better.
Things couldn't be better. Forget not all His benefits.
What about that benefit of you meant it for evil, but God meant
it for good? Oh, what a benefit that is, that God takes everything,
forgetting all of His benefits. He takes everything, even the
bad things, the painful things, and He uses it for good. Everything. Isn't that a glorious benefit?
Who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases,
who redeems thy life from destruction, who crowns thee with loving kindness
and tender mercies, who satisfies thy mouth with good things so
that thy youth is renewed like the eagles. Never forget his
benefits. Turn to Acts chapter 20. Verse 35, I have showed you all things,
how that so laboring you ought to support the weak, and to remember
the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said, it's more blessed
to give than to receive. Now remember those words. It's
more blessed to give than to receive. If I'm stuck in a rut,
if I'm unhappy, give, and I'll be blessed. It's always more
blessed. The Lord said, give and it shall
be given unto you. A very similar verse is in Hebrews
13, 16, to do good and to communicate. Give, forget not. Forget not. For with such sacrifices,
God is well pleased. Oh, may God cause me to always
remember, give, give. What a blessing of his grace.
In Galatians chapter two, verse 10, we read where they wanted
Paul to be, to remember the poor. Remember the poor. Now this is
something that I want to remember. I want you to remember. Remember
the poor. Remember the poor in spirit.
Remember the poor in purse. Remember the poor in health.
Remember the poor in friends. Be a merciful and compassionate
giving person. Remember the poor. And then in
Colossians chapter four, verse 18, Paul said, remember my bonds.
Remember my bonds. The writer of the Hebrew said,
remember those that are bound as bound with them. Remember
my bonds. You see, If I preach the gospel,
there's going to be some problems that come along with it, with
people. But you know what, I want to, whoever is being persecuted
for Christ's sake, that's the person I want to, I want to fall
in line with him, don't you? I want to, I want to be with
him. I want to, I want to stand with him. And Paul said, remember
my bonds. In Hebrews 13, seven, We read,
remember them that have the rule over you, who have spoken to
you the word of God. Remember them that have the rule
over you. Now, that means remember your guides. That word rule is
not one who tells you what to do and gives you rules and so
on. That has nothing to do with what a pastor is. Remember them
that are your guides who have spoken to you the Word of God.
Remember me. This thing of preaching is such
a hard, difficult... I'm not trying to do the thing,
but it's hard! It's hard to keep a right attitude. To have your heart tender. Oh, I want to preach with freshness
and zeal. Pray for me. Remember me. Pray
that the Lord will make me to be a pastor after his own heart
and a man after his own heart. Remember them. Oh, how especially
we need your prayers. Don't forget them. Them that
have the rule over you, they need your prayers, they need
your love, they need your support, they need your encouragement.
Don't forget about them, but remember them. And then in Hebrews
13 verse 4 it says, forget not to entertain strangers. Angel,
forget not to entertain strangers. For thereby some have entertained
angels, unawares. Don't forget to be hospitable.
Make that your goal, your desire to be a truly hospitable person. Could be you're entertaining
an angel, unawares. And then in Matthew chapter five,
verses 23 and 24, it says, if thou bring thy gift to the altar
and there remember that thy brother hath ought against thee. Leave
there thy gift before the altar and go thy way. First be reconciled
to thy brother and then come and offer thy gift. Oh, remember
that if your brother has ought against you. Now I would like
to close by saying a few things about God's memory. I like thinking
about his memory. Turn with me to Isaiah 49. Beginning in verse 15. Let's start verse 14, but Zion
said, the Lord had forsaken me and my Lord had forgotten me.
Can a woman forget her sucking child? That she should not have
compassion on the son of her womb. Yay. They may forget yet. Will I not forget thee? Behold, I've graven thee upon
the palms of my hands. Thy walls are continually before
me. Now he always sees me engraven
in the palm of his hands, and he's not going to forget me. He sees us as he died for us. Psalm 103 verse 14 says, he knoweth
our frame. He remembereth that we're dust. Aren't you thankful that He remembers
that? And don't you reckon we ought to remember it too and
not be so hard on people? He knows our frame. He remembers
that we are dust. You see, the Scripture says He
always remembers His covenant. And that's why He said their
sins and their iniquities I will remember no more. Now that is the most glory. When
God sees me in glory, he's not even going to remember that I'm
a sinner. You know, well, because I'm not.
That's why. Because I'm not. Because I'm absolutely perfect.
Because I'm just like the Lord Jesus Christ. And he will have
it. I've always been. The only way
I can understand this is I've always been united to Christ.
And I'm he's going to see me as he's always seen me in the
beloved, in the Lord Jesus Christ. And he will not even the sins
that I'm aware of. He will not remember because
they're put away. They're gone. They are no more. Now, do you remember the words
of that thief? Let's turn to Luke chapter 23.
Luke chapter 23. Verse 33. And when they were come to the
place which is called Calvary, there they crucified Him. And
the malefactors, one on the right hand and the other on the left. And we know from Mark's account,
they were both cursing Christ. Verse 39. And 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." Now you can see what he, he saw that Jesus Christ
is God. He saw he's never, he'd never
sinned. He'd done nothing amiss. And he saw that all he did was
deserved what he was getting. Verse 42. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest
into thy kingdom. Lord, when you come back as a
mighty, ruling, reigning King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Lord, when you come back and
everyone sees who you are in your glory and in your power,
oh, would you remember me? Would you remember me in mercy?
Would you remember me in grace? Would you remember me in your
kindness? Oh, Lord, remember me. Now, if the Lord remembers your
name, will anything else need to be said? Not a thing. That's all that's
necessary is for him to remember me. And that's what I'm praying
right now. I'm praying that with just as
much, whatever the thief was praying, I'm praying it right.
Lord, remember me. Remember me when you come in
your kingdom. If you own my name, everything's
okay. If I'm recognized to be one of
yours, somebody you died for, somebody, he's one of, what if
on judgment day, my name is called to stand before God and the Lord
says, he's one of mine. He's one of mine. What else has
to be said? Not a thing. If the Lord answers
for me, I'm when my name is called, I'm going to look to him to answer
for me. Now that's Lord. Remember me
when you come into your kingdom. Now, The scripture says regarding
the Lord that he never sleeps or slumbers and he never forgets. You know, if he, if he forgot
us for even a second to be over forced, you know that it'd be
completely over forced. We'd never enter glory, but thank
God he never forgets his people. And he has said, I will never
leave thee nor forsake thee. And he won't do it. May God give us the grace to
always be reminded of the gospel because we forget it so easily. Let's pray.