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his second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which
I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: 2 That ye may be
mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the
commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour: 3 Knowing this
first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own
lusts, 4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since
the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the
beginning of the creation. 5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of
God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the
water: 6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with
water, perished: 7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same
word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and
perdition of ungodly men. 8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one
day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one
day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men
count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should
perish, but that all should come to repentance. 10 But the day of
the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass
away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the
earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. (2
Peter 3:1-10)
Without
the benefit of memory, we would all be more closely related to the beasts of
the field - except that even they have a limited memory with which the Lord has
graced them to be aware of things vital to their survival. But with mankind,
memory is often fleeting. Moreover, it is often fostered by those things
pleasant to remember, and repressed by those things unpleasant. This is one of
the fundamental rules of recall in the learning process. Being lazy, and averse
to remembering laws and Commandments of our LORD that limit our desires, we
tend to repress those things that impose a Godly obligation to obey the Lord,
and prefer those things that provide us a license to sin. The sinful nature of
man is a vivid expression of His presumed free will instead of conformity to
that perfect Will of God. I say presumed free will because we are born with a
will dedicated to Satan. Our wills conform to his until we are quickened by the
Holy Ghost and become dead to sin and alive to Christ. It is a work of grace
and of no credit to our own efforts and striving. (see Eph 2)
The
word REMEMBER is found 148 times in Holy Writ. It must, therefore, be of some
grave importance to us. As a matter of fact, it would still be of grave
importance if it were only mentioned once. There are, additionally, derivatives
of the term such as Remembrance and Memorial. It is no wonder that God counsels
us to REMEMBER so many times in Scripture. Children do not need to REMEMBER how
to misbehave. It comes by force of natural desire to satisfy a selfish
proclivity; however, to REMEMBER to do those things directed by parents is a
matter of fear combined with commitment based in love. This is true of God.
Our
Lord has never forgotten one of His Elect. He knew us before the worlds were
formed. He knew us in our mother’s womb, and He REMEMBERED to call and choose
us in due time to Himself. 15 Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not
have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not
forget thee. 16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands;
thy walls are continually before me. (Isaiah 49:15-16) When I was a young elementary school student, I sometimes wrote
some important point on my hand so that I would not forget. All I had to do
then was to remember that I had written the information on my hand. But the
Lord has graven (carved) our names in the palms of His hands. He did that with
the nails of Calvary’s cross. Even in the waning moments of His conscious life,
He REMEMBERED His Elect, in some cases, centuries before we saw the light of
day at birth.
Love
is the strongest remedy for a weak memory. When we were young (and some of you
still are) we REMEMBERED every detail of the darling of our affection. We read,
time and time again, the love letters exchanged – and we tried to even read
between the lines to pick up every nuance of meaning. How glorious would it be
if we paid such a devoted commitment to reading and understanding God’s love
letter to us – His Holy Bible.
Memory
is also aided by repetition (another law of learning). Many readers of this
devotion will recall learning our multiplication tables in early years. We
repeated them over and over again by rote repetition until they were indelibly
written upon our memories. This same principle holds true to the Word of God.
There is an old hymn that applies: “Sing them over again to me, wonderful
Words of Life.” David loved the Word of God. He arose early to seek the
face of the Lord – in prayer and reading. Here are a few verses of Psalm 63
which should serve to remind each of us as to what manner we should view God’s
Word: 1 O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my
soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land,
where no water is; 2 To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen
thee in the sanctuary. 3 Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my
lips shall praise thee. 4 Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands
in thy name. 5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and
fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips: 6 When I remember
thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches. 7 Because thou hast
been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. 8 My soul followeth
hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me. (Psalm 63:1-8) It might be profitable to bear in mind that the great depth of
Holy Scripture was not available to David as to us. He had the Law and the
Prophets. We have BOTH plus the Gospels, Epistles, Historical Books, Minor
Prophets, and Revelations. David looked forward in faith to the coming of a
Redeemer; we look BACK to the accomplished historical fact.
3 When I consider
thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast
ordained; 4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of
man, that thou visitest him? 5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and
hast crowned him with glory and honour. (Psalms 8:3-5) What is man that the Sovereign of the Heavens should REMEMBER
him? Only love compels that remembrance. But love can never exist in a void –
it requires reciprocation. Love never originates in the heart of the sinner
toward God. It is always an echo of the love God has shed upon us. It is not of
our initiation, but His. 19 We love him, because he first loved us. 20 If a man say, I
love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his
brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? 21 And this
commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also. (1
John 4:19-21) You may see in these verses, and numerous others
spread throughout Scripture, that the act of salvation is never of our own
doing, but the act of a Providential Father in God. It would not be possible to
truly love God and not love our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Because
of His great love for His Elect people, God will forever REMEMBER them. But
what of the wicked? 7 The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of
the wicked shall rot. (Prov 10:7) God REMEMBERS the just because their names are written in His
Book of Life, but look at the above verse to discover the fate of the wicked.
Every reader will recall the name of the poor beggar laid at the gate of the
rich man in Luke 16:19-20: his name was LAZARUS wasn’t it? Good that you
remembered, but what of the rich man’s name? He had none because his temporary
and worldly name was not important since all of this world will perish forever.
His name was not written in the Book of Life, and no man needs a name in Hell.
I have witnessed the death of many soldiers – some Godly and
others not so Godly. It was never difficult to tell by a man’s dying peace
where his heart was and where his name was written. Those who do not know God,
regardless of manly courage demonstrated in this life, go to the dark chamber
of death in fear and trembling. Imagine how sorrowful it must be to grow old
and weary with no hope in Christ.
1 REMEMBER now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the
evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no
pleasure in them; 2 While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be
not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain: 3 In the day when
the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow
themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look
out of the windows be darkened, 4 And the doors shall be
shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise
up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of musick shall be brought
low; 5 Also when they shall be afraid of that which
is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree
shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail:
because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets: 6 Or ever the
silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken
at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. 7 Then shall the
dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who
gave it. (Eccl 12:1-7) God commands us to REMEMBER
because He knows we are frail and weak. But when we have tasted of the Balm of
Gilead, our memories are refreshed daily by that Manna which is the Bread of
Heaven in Jesus Christ; and, thusly, we shall never forget.
