Don't forget not to forget

Introduction

Our memory is something remarkable. It has the capacity to store the equivalent of 2.5 millions gigabytes. But our brain is not only remarkable because of the amount of memories it can stock, but also because of the diversity of memories it can retain. We can store persons, objects, feelings, smells, and taste. However, our mind is affected by sin and so is our memory. How does sin affect our memory? In Deuteronomy 8:12-14 “When you eat and are full, and build beautiful houses to live in, and your herds and flocks grow large, and your silver and gold multiply, and everything else you have increases, be careful that your heart doesn’t become proud and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.” So, pride makes people forget the good that others had done to them. That is why there are festivals and rituals and commandments that God gave in order to aid our memory which is bent to forget the good.

What aren’t we supposed to forget? What does God specifically tells us not to forget?

I. Who you were in the past

1. What?

a) a slave of sin (expound on the metaphor)

Deuteronomy 5:15 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out of there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. That is why the LORD your God has commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

2. Why?

b) so that we may be compassionate, kind and gentle toward others who are still in the world and in their sins.

Tt 3:1–3. Remind them to submit to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, 2 to slander no one, to avoid fighting, and to be kind, always showing gentleness to all people. 3 For we too were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved by various passions and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, detesting one another.

Illustration:

300 Sermon Illustrations from Charles Spurgeon (All Corrupt in Origin)

A good brother said to me, the other day, concerning a certain boy, that he was afraid we should never do much with him because he was of very corrupt origin. I said, “So were you.”He replied, “I do not quite mean it that way.”“No,” I said, “but I do mean it that way.”He or she who is a son or daughter of Adam had a corrupt origin. As we all came from that source, we are all corrupt. Do not ever say of anybody, “That person is too bad for me to do anything with him.” It is the genius of Christianity to select the worst first, and we should never regard any man as utterly hopeless until he is dead. As long as the breath is in his body, even if all the devils from hell were also in him, there is enough power in the Lord Jesus Christ to make the whole troop of them fly, and it is for us to attack those devils in his name. Jesus Christ having saved us, the salvation of other sinners must be possible.

II. Who you are in the present

1. What are we?

a) Strangers and exiles

1 Peter 2:11 “Dear friends, I urge you as strangers and exiles to abstain from sinful desires that wage war against the soul.”

2. Why?

a) to abstain from sin

b) to not love the world, nor the things of the world

Moses: Exodus 2:21-22 “Moses agreed to stay with the man, and he gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage. She gave birth to a son whom he named Gershom, for he said, “I have been a resident alien in a foreign land.”

Hebrews 11.23-26 “By faith Moses, after he was born, was hidden by his parents for three months, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they didn’t fear the king’s edict. By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter and chose to suffer with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasure of sin. For he considered reproach for the sake of Christ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, since he was looking ahead to the reward.”

Illustration:

Not long after the slave trade ended in the British Empire, a black man was walking on the streets of London, happy to be finally free. As the black man was about to enter a store, a white fellow passing by dropped his walking stick by accident. When the white man saw the black guy, he yelled angrily at him to give him the stick off the ground as though he was his master. Scared, the black men bent instinctively and got the stick. But before handing it to the white man, he thought to himself, “Wait a minute, I am free. Why should I act as though I am not”. Realizing this, the black man threw the stick back to the ground and entered the store.

III. What the Lord has done for you

1. What has he done for us?

Deuteronomy 8.12-20 “When you eat and are full, and build beautiful houses to live in, and your herds and flocks grow large, and your silver and gold multiply, and everything else you have increases, be careful that your heart doesn’t become proud and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery. He led you through the great and terrible wilderness with its poisonous snakes and scorpions, a thirsty land where there was no water. He brought water out of the flint rock for you. He fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your ancestors had not known, in order to humble and test you, so that in the end he might cause you to prosper. You may say to yourself, ‘My power and my own ability have gained this wealth for me,’ but remember that the Lord your God gives you the power to gain wealth, in order to confirm his covenant he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.

a) deliverance (Christ)

b) provision (Food on the table)

c) protection

Ps 103.1-3 “My soul, bless the Lord, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. My soul, bless the Lord, and do not forget all his benefits. He forgives all your iniquity.

a) forgivness

b) healing

2. Why has he done this?

a) so that we may be humble (reread Deuteronomy 8:12-14 “When you eat and are full, and build beautiful houses to live in, and your herds and flocks grow large, and your silver and gold multiply, and everything else you have increases, be careful that your heart doesn’t become proud and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.”

b) so that we may bless him and be thankful

c) so that we may face future trials by remembering the triumph over the past ones

Deuteronomy 7:17-19 ““If you say to yourself, ‘These nations are greater than I; how can I drive them out?’ do not be afraid of them. Be sure to remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and all Egypt: the great trials that you saw, the signs and wonders, the strong hand and outstretched arm, by which the Lord your God brought you out. The Lord your God will do the same to all the peoples you fear.”

d) so that we may do the same for others

IV. The good things that others have done for you

Paul’s example - 2 Ti 1:16–18. May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. 17 On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he diligently searched for me and found me. 18 May the Lord grant that he obtain mercy from him on that day. You know very well how much he ministered at Ephesus

Conclusion

How to remember?

All of these things that we are not supposed to forget namely who we were in the past, who we are in the present, what the Lord has done for us and what others have done for us are captured by one ritual that God commanded us to do regularly - The Lord Supper.