Remembering

Memories stir us. With a knowledge of the past we avoid mistakes & maintain hope Lk. 17:32;

Remember Lot's wife.

Heb 11:38-40   They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

We must remember where we have been, what God has done, & we must remember the word of truth

I. REMEMBER WHERE YOU HAVE BEEN    Israel Was To Remember:

1. Their slavery in Egypt Deut. 15:15. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this thing today

2. God's powerful redemption & continuing care Deut 7:18-19 You shall not be afraid of them, but you shall remember well what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt:

3. Their rebellion - Deut. 9:7 "Remember! Do not forget how you provoked the LORD your God to wrath in the wilderness.

4. God's law (covenant) - Deut 16:12 And you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and you shall be careful to observe these statutes.

          B. What About Forgetting What Is Behind?

Phil 3:13-14 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 1 press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

1. Idea of not relying on the past to satisfy the present/future

Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation works, faith, Baptism, laying on of hands Let's get past these toward perfection

2. Remembering our past state of sin causes humble obedience & diligence 

Eph. 2:11-12; Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh 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.  

C. Remember Where You Have Been In Your Spiritual Life In Order To: 

1. Repent & reform Rev. 2:5. Remember therefore from where you have fallen: repent and do the first works

2. Be thankful to God 1 Tim 1:12 And I thank Christ Jesus who enabled me, because He counted me faithful

3. Properly order our lives Phil 3:4-9 If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were  gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ

4.  Follow worthy examples of faith 

Therefore watch, and remember that for three years,  I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears.

II REMEMBER WHAT GOD HAS DONE FOR YOU     

Deut 11:7 but your eyes have seen every great act of 'the LORD which He did 

A. Remember God's Great Love Toward Us In Christ 

Rom 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners,    Christ died for us  

B. Remember That God Remembers Our Sins No More; Heb 8:12  For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more." 

C. Remember The Great Works Of God In Order To:

1. Be strengthened in personal faith - Matt 16:9-10    Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you look up?

2. Help us endure throughout life -. 2 Tim 2:8   Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel,

III. REMEMBER THE TRUTH OF GOD. 

A.      Israel Would Be Safe & Strong If They Remembered God's Covenant             

B.       Hos 4:6  My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge,! also will reject you from being my priest; because you have forgotten the law of your God,I also will forget your children.

C. We Can Remain Safe & Strong By Remembering The Truth Of The Gospel - 2 Pet. 1:12-15 

For this reason I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know and are established in the present truth. Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you, knowing that shortly I must put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me. Moreover I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my decease. 

1. It equips us for spiritual maturity.

2 Peter 1:5-8  But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ 

D. Remember The Words Of Christ - Jno. 15:20    Remember the word that J said to you

Jn 16:4;    These things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told

Lk. 24:6    Remember how He spoke toyou when He was still in Galilee,

2 Ths. 2:5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?