For the last number of Lord's Day evenings, I've been following a little series on to the heading questions that ministers are asked on this evening. I want to deal with the question, how can we improve our memory in relation to spiritual things? One common complaint among Christians is having a poor memory. The Apostle in 1 Corinthians 15 sets out the doctrine of the resurrection, it is an important part of the gospel. In verse 1, he lays down his premise. Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I have preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand. So they have heard the gospel that has been preached to them, and they stand upon that gospel that they have heard. and the seed. But then in verse 2 he adds this, by which also your seed, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. You have then in this verse the following things. The thing that is prized, salvation, by which also your seed. You have the means of obtaining it. which is the gospel as set out in verse 1. You have the particular grace necessary in relation to the gospel, faith, which he says in verse 2. And then, of course, the particular faculty given to that end, which is in memory, if ye keep in memory what I preached on to you. So what we have then before us is this simple statement, profound as it is, that we are saved if we keep in memory what was preached. There is a sense in which it can be said that retaining the gospel in our minds is necessary as those who believe the gospel. It is necessary. It is a very striking and powerful negative that we must put alongside this, which is in Luke 16, verse 25, But Abraham said, Son, remember that thy in thy lifetime receivest thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things. But now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. In hell, one of the most terrible experiences of those who are damned is all that they shall remember while they live in this world. The negative is true. The positive is true. That one of the glories and joys of the believer is to have a constant remembrance of gospel things kept in their mind. all their days. So I want to look then at this subject of how can we improve our memory in relation to spiritual things and I trust that these things will be of help and of benefit to us. First of all, the corruption of the memory through the fall. Because of the fall, all our faculties were corrupted. This is what we mean by total depravity. There is not one part of us that was left untouched by the fall. Every faculty was corrupted and distorted and twisted and bent because of the fall. And we have an example of this in relation to the mind given to us in Genesis chapter 6 and the verse 5. And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth. And it is how that wickedness is described that is most striking. And that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. What depravity! That because of a thought, man thought of nothing but sin. His every thought was a depraved thought. Of course it saves the thoughts of the heart. We must avoid modern psychology. And Freudianism, that somehow or other, you know, we've got all these various things. The Bible tells us we are body and soul, and the heart is the centre of our existence. And the heart thinks. The heart does many things according to the Word of God. And that is something you may follow up. But there are two clear demonstrations of what the Bible tells us. First of all, we remember what we should forget, how true that is about us. We remember what we should forget. We remember unprofitable things. Every word and action that was badly done, we remember. But the lesson we ought to draw from it, we have forgotten. We neglect the lesson, we ignore the lesson, we forget the lesson. We remember unprofitable things. And then we must say that we remember hurtful things. How personal injuries are retained in our minds long after they've happened. But we never forget them. Richard Steele the Puritan says, we can remember old songs and old wrongs long enough And we have examples of this. Remember Absalom, his remembrance of what Ammon did to Tamar, 2 Samuel 13 verse 32. He remembered what was done. He ought to have forgotten it, but no, he harboured it in his mind. And then also we remember sinful things. Richard Steen says, we can remember a sinful story from seven years ago and forget a saving sermon. from seven hours ago. How true that is. I wonder how many remember this morning's sermon. We forget things that we ought to remember. We remember what we should forget. Old stories, old songs, unprofitable things, hurtful things, sinful things. How often the memory acts as a nurse to sinful things. Think of what Ezekiel says in Ezekiel 23. Ezekiel chapter 23 and in the verse 19. Yet she multiplied her whoredoms and calling to remembrance the days of her youth when she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt. We remember things that we should forget. The memory acting as a nurse. that simply encourages sin. Then the second thing we must say is that we forget what we should remember. We forget what we should remember. Now here we can have a long list of things that we should remember. And maybe we'll just take our time with this. The first is God. Jeremiah 2. Jeremiah chapter 2 verse 32. Can a maid forget her ornaments or a bride her attire? Yet my people have forgotten me. Days without number. We should remember God. And yet how often we forget God in the rush of life, in the busyness of life. And then of course there are the benefits that God has given to us. Too often we forget these, 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. You know, it is easy to whinge and complain. And as we go through life, we meet a lot of whingers. Well, I've met some of my time, and they can be an absolute pain. And some of them are apparently professing believers, but they spend all their time whinging. What does the psalmist say? Forget not all his benefits. Now, there is a subtype. All the benefits. The psalmist here lists a range of spiritual benefits that God has done for us. But you know we do forget some of these things. We forget what we should remember. And then of course there is doctrine. We ought not to forget doctrines and the scripture of course is full of doctrine. It's nearly difficult to know where to start, but anyway, Matthew 4, verse 4, but he answered and said, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God. Doctrine is important. Doctrine is crucial. For any who has learned a shorter catechism, you will know. that doctrine comes before today, before practice. Doctrine is important to shape our practice. What does Peter say in 2 Peter 1? 2 Peter chapter 1 and the verses 12 to 15. Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things. though ye know them, and be established in the present truth. Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance, knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as the Lord Jesus Christ it showed me. Moreover, I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance." Over and over he keeps reminding them of the importance of remembering doctrine. These things You must constantly keep in your minds. So there's God. There are the blessings and benefits that God gives us. And then there's doctrine. Then, of course, something else that we do not like to think about and do not like to have mentioned. Sins. Ezekiel 36, verse 31. Eventually you remember your own evil ways. in your doings that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations. You know, if ever we are filled with pride and vanity, one good cure for pride and vanity is to take a look at our lives and see all the things that we've ever done wrong. All our sins, all our faults, all the sins of youth, all the sins of teenage years, all the sins of older years, all the sins of yesterday, all the sins of last week. We too quickly forget this aspect of our lives, our sins. Were it not for God's mercy, we would have perished in our sins. And when we look at the sinfulness of our sins, and you know one of the striking things is the language the Bible uses. Even in this verse, remember your own evil ways, your doings that were not good, your iniquities, your abominations. It piles up term upon term in order to remind us that we live by grace and we stand on grace. Sometimes we get filled with pride. We begin to think we're something. And then, of course, we must remember church. Psalm 137. Psalm 137 and verse 5. If I forget the old Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her coming. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth. If I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy. You know we sometimes forget that some of the most choicest and most precious of promises were given to the church. Now this is the age that dismisses the church. and doesn't think the Church is of any value. Sometimes, alas, even Christians embrace that view. Well, to such I would suggest to pull out Rutherford's letters. It's not the only thing he ever wrote. Read all of Rutherford. Do you know one of the things that Rutherford constantly remembers in all his letters? Remember the Kirk of Christ. Oh, pray for the Kirk of Christ. Remember the Church. Don't forget the Church. Remember God. Remember the benefits that God has given to you. Remember doctrine. Remember your sins. Remember the church. We could keep on going. Remember your duties. Exodus 20 and the verse 8. Exodus 20 and the verse 8. Exodus 20 of course dealing with the law. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. This is an anthenomian age we live in. And you know there are those that claim to be believers and the one commandment that they want axed, they say we should have nothing to do with is the fourth commandment. What a strange form of Christianity that is. Remember the Sabbath day. to keep it holy. It's not your day. It's God's day. God has given it to us for our spiritual benefit and advancement. Set everything else to one side. It'll be there for you tomorrow, even if you don't want it. It'll be there on Tuesday. Set it all to one side. This is a great day. It's a special day. It's God's day. A day for holy things, for your spiritual advancement, your spiritual benefit, all the comfort that we can have in life. here on this Sabbath day that we may use them in the days ahead. And of course, finishing the list, death. Remember death. I know some of you might think I'm a morbid kind of character because I happen to love graveyards. I do like graveyards. I'm not recommending that you all fall in love with graveyards like me, but you know we do often forget about death. When you take a stroll through a graveyard, you are reminded, death walks beside us every day you live. Don't forget death. As Calvin always put it, our life hangs by a thread. It is appointed unto man once to die. Don't forget death. But then secondly, hindrances to a better memory. There are hindrances that we face within life that act against having a better memory. What's the first one that is this? A lack of understanding. That's a hindrance. Matthew 13 and in the verse 19. When anyone heareth the word of the kingdom and understandeth it not, Then come up the wicked one and catch it away, that which was sown in his heart. This is he which receives seed by the wayside." Lack of understanding. Satan coming to pluck the word away from the hearts of those who do not understand it. What a hindrance. Not understanding the word of God. This is why Peter, as he prays for the Ephesians and the Colossians, he prays for understanding for their enlightenment. Colossians 1 verse 9. For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you and to desire that you might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. The one thing Christians need is to understand the word of God. I know you had a saving understanding of it, that is of the gospel. You came to faith in Christ, but it doesn't stop there. can't stop there. It mustn't stop there. We're not allowed to let it stop there. We must constantly advance and advance. We must reach maturity and not remain as beings. And the Apostle, both here and in Ephesians, he has the same prayer, God by his Spirit would work in your heart so that you would advance, you would grow, that enlightenment would be given unto you. And understanding be men. That's not what the Apostle says. He wants the believer to reach maturity, not to be an infant tossed to and fro like a child. So lack of understanding is an impediment. Then the second one is sin. When one sin is kept, it has an incredible tendency to multiply. Not only that, it has an incredible ability to monopolize our entire mind. We can give up all kinds of sins, but if we keep one darling sin, one particular sin that we happen to like, you know what happens? That sin takes over, it takes over our minds. We have a faction of thoughts for that sin and so our thoughts return to it time after time. We must pluck it out otherwise our minds will be weakened and indeed every faculty will in due course be ruled by it. Matthew 5 verse 29. If thy right eye offend thee, look it out, and cast it from thee. For it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that the whole body should be cast into hell." One sin will start to monopolize, start to dominate our entire lives. And we will turn to, whenever we've got free time, we will start to go back to that one sin, maybe a particular lust or something. But our minds will drift back to it time after time, and it will start to dominate until it consumes our entire thinking, day after day. We've got to pluck it out if it offends us. We've got to mortify it if it offends. We've got to kill this sin. Remember John Owen's great line, be killing sin or sin will kill you. What did he mean? It will just bit by bit take over our entire minds and our entire lives. Sin is a hindrance to a better memory because it pushes out good thoughts. In economics there's a line that says good money or bad money drives out good money. Well it's the same with spiritual things. Bad thoughts drive out good thoughts. Thirdly, worldliness. Christ has told us we cannot serve two masters at once. Matthew 6 verse 24. No man can serve two masters Either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. He cannot serve God and man. So the mind is only capable of serving one master at a time. You can't serve two at the same time. And when the mind is overcome with worldly cares and issues, there is no room for spiritual When the mind is taken over with worldly cares, it drives out spiritual things. The Bible tells us in Matthew 13, in verse 32, of course we have this parable of the sower. You know the whole thing about this particular parable and all the various seeds that are sown. Verse 32, which indeed is the least of all seeds, but when it is grown it is the greatest among herbs, and become of the trees that the birds of the earth come, and lords in the branches thereof. There he's speaking of the kingdom of heaven, how the kingdom of heaven should be advancing and growing, it is developing. What happens to the believer? What happens to us if the seed that is sown and the heart is filled with worldly things? We look at verse 22. He also that receiveth seed among the thorns, as he that heareth the word, and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. So instead of advancing, instead of growing and developing, When the mind is preoccupied with worldly cares and issues, spiritual things are choked, they diminish. Worldliness is a hindrance to a good memory, to a better memory. This is why those with fewer concerns have better memories. have less to think about the worldly things, and they use all that time thinking about spiritual things. And when you talk to them, they may never have gone to university, may never even have finished school, but all their knowledge of scripture, it's, well, how shall we describe it, not only stimulating, but intimidating, because they know so much of scripture. But then when you look at their lives, you see how little they worry about things. It's not that they're indifferent or careless, but they've got things in the right balance. But when we let worldly things fill up our lives, it just crowds out spiritual things. There's a fourth hindrance, and that is what the Bible terms drunkenness. Drunkenness. Proverbs 31. Proverbs 31 verse 4 and 5, it is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes strong drink, lest they drink and forget the law. Drunkenness is a hindrance to a better memory. And when you come into the New Testament, it is striking the range of words that Paul uses for a sound mind. It is a scriptural law that we have a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1 verse 7. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. And if you turn back to 1 Thessalonians 5 and into verse 6. Therefore let us not sleep as the others, but let us watch and be sober. This word actually refers to a sober mind, that is a mind that is alert, free from the influence of strong drinks. That is a drink that just confuses our thinking. Christians are always to have an alert mind, free from evil influence of all kinds. If we allow our minds to be influenced by evil things, We will not have a sound mind. We will not have a good mind. It would be a hindrance to a better mind. We must have alert minds. Paul uses, I think it's about five different words in relation to the mind, often translated sound, sober and so on. But they refer to this idea of having a mind alert, not under an evil influence. Clear thinking. We must have clear thinking Christians. There are too many confused thinking Christians. They don't know whether they're going one way or another way. They don't know whether one doctrine is right or another doctrine is heretical. We must have clear thinking Christians. I hope you are a clear thinking Christian. Hindrances to a better memory. Then thirdly, helps. It's not enough to be negative, we must also set out some positive things, some helps. Firstly, sobriety, just to carry on the thought from the previous point, with a slight difference. Luke 21, and in the verse 34. and take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness and cures of this life, and so that they come upon you unawares." This word overcharged, what a fascinating word. You know there are some fascinating words that are used in scripture. But the word overcharged refers to the idea of being weighed down, depressed. Of being weighed down, overcharged. too much overload, maybe we might say. And then he says surfeiting. It's actually a medical term. It refers to nausea and headaches. Well some of us know about headaches, we get too many of them. But surfeiting and then drunkenness, well that refers to being intoxicated. And then the word cures reminds us of anxieties and worries. So what's the point here? The point is that sobriety is a help to a good or better memory. You see, we worry about things, don't we? We're not supposed to worry about things. We're not supposed to be careless about things and be indifferent about tomorrow, but we're not to be depressed by worrying about tomorrow. Tomorrow will take care of itself. Don't we believe that God has decreed all things? So why are we lying on our beds, tossing and turning and fretting and worrying? All we're doing is making ourselves worse. And by the time the morning comes and you haven't slept all night, you're in a bad mood and everybody you talk to knows you're in a bad mood, you argue with everybody, you fight with everybody and you're contrary at everything about everything. That's what happens. Sobriety. We need to look at things in the light of God's word. Not to be weighed down. Not to give ourselves nausea and headaches over the cares of this life. It stops us thinking clearly. You know, the psalmist in Psalm 73, what a marvellous exposition of this one point. There he is, completely distressed. Is there any benefit to me being a child of God? This is a great question. I look around me, I see the young godlike and they seem to be living a life to the full. But then of course that psalm gives us some wonderful lessons. He says, I thought about it and I got a sore head. And it annoyed me so much I was going to say something. But he realised there are times in our lives when there are some things we better not say. And we ought not to say. Because all they will do will upset the Lord's people. So what was the cure? And I went into the temple and I stood before God. And then he says, as I began to think it all out, what is the conclusion? I'm glad I'm not in their shoes. That's the conclusion. I am glad I am a child of God, even though I face difficulties, even though I have hardships, even though they're having a wonderful time. That path they're on is a broad road to eternal damnation. And how glad I am I'm not on it. Sobriety. What's the second one? Being focused. Focused. I'm not talking about a focus group. I'm talking about ourselves being focused. Isaiah speaks of this. Isaiah 26 in verse 3. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace. He's mine. has stayed on thee because he trusted in thee. A distracted mind makes things unclear. Isn't that what James says in chapter 1 verse 8? A double-minded man is unstable. A distracted mind makes everything unclear. You know when we're stressed, when we're in two minds as we would say, we don't know why it's that or the other. And because we are distracted, we can't see anything clearly. We don't know whether one path is right or the other one is right, or both are right or both are wrong. We become confused. It's like a pool of water. You know whenever a pool is all calm, you can stand and look down into the bottom. Then you're foolish, you take a stick, and you shake it all about, and you stir up all the mud, and everything is dark, and you can't see anything. You can't even see your own reflection. Everything's all tossed about, everything's all in a stir, and you can't see anything clearly. What does Isaiah tell us? Isaiah 26, 3, Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace. His mind is stayed in thee, because he trusted in thee. The Christian always believes that everything God does is right, even when his providences are contrary to his promises. The Christian is absolutely convinced everything God does is always right. And we go back time after time to that little phrase in Proverbs 8, all things for good. What's the next one? Repetition. Repetition. Deuteronomy chapter 11. Deuteronomy chapter 11 and verses 18 and 19. Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them, when thou sittest in thine house, when thou walkest by the way, when thou last dine, when thou risest up. And I shall write them upon the doorposts of thine house and upon thy gates." Repetition. Going over it. and over it, and over it. One of the things that I learned is how children love repetition. They love to hear the same thing. You know a children's story? They've heard the story a thousand times. They don't care, but they want to hear it again. And they go over it, and over it, and over and over it. Remember when you were doing the tables? Your parents went over the tables, two times tables. And they had to say those tables morning, noon, and night. Why? To get it into our stupid heads. That's why. Repetition is important. So it's the same as spiritual things. We've got to go over it and over it and over it and when we've done all that, go back over it again. And that's a target. Get rid of having itchy ears, wanting to hear something new. We haven't got time for something new. Life is too short. To be running after something, you need repetition. So in your homes and in your lives and wherever you are, you know what it's like when you're learning a catechism, you've got to go over it. But I know some of you, you only learn it long enough so that you can repeat it once. Because a fortnight later, if I were to ask you, you would have forgotten it. But you've got to go back over it again. It's the same with biblical truth all the time. Over it and over it and over it. And then the fourth help, writing. Deuteronomy 11, verse 26, And thou shalt write them upon the doorposts of thine house, and upon your gates. Deuteronomy 17, verse 18, And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his king, that he shall write him a copy of this law and a book out of that which is before the priests and the Levites. And verse 19, That he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes. to do them. That was hard being lifted up and so on. But he had to write it. Well, writing is good. Thomas Cranmer developed a habit when he was younger. He never read a book without having a notebook beside him. that he would remember that which he read. It might take him a long time to read a book, but when he finished the book he knew its contents because he took time to read it and write out various points. So later on in life he would go back over those things. Not to forget, it would be a help to having a better memory, writing things out. And so Philip Henry, father of Matthew Henry, One of his great rules was that the young ones in the congregation, they would learn when young to write out the sermon, so by the time they became adults they were still writing out the sermon that they wouldn't forget. Writing fixes a thing deeper into the mind. Fifthly, prayer. 1 Chronicles chapter 29 and the verse 18. 1 Chronicles 29, 18, O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this forever in the imagination of a thought of the heart of my people, and prepare their heart unto thee. Prayer. Whatever we need from God, then if you lack wisdom, let him ask of God. But we need better memories. To whom shall we go for a better memory? on her knees before God. Oh, Heavenly Father, you know what a foolish person I am. You know how I have treated my mind over the years. But here I am, reading your word and trying to learn it. Oh, keep this word in my silly head. Keep this forever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of my people and prepare their heart unto thee. Sixthly, resolution. Psalm 119. There's a psalm of resolutions. 119, verse 16. I will delight myself in thy statutes. I will not forget thy word. There's resolution. Of course he will not forget. He has resolved not to forget. Why? because the delight that he had in it. You know, when we love something, we don't forget it. It's like falling in love. We never forget the one we fall in love with. At least if you love them, you won't forget them. If you forget them, you don't love them. I remember being in a graveyard and it said at the bottom of the headstone, always in our thoughts. And the weeds were about three feet high. I haven't come back for years to tend even to that grief. Always in our thoughts. Well, the weeds didn't demonstrate too much thinking. I will delight myself in thy statutes. Delight leads to resolution. And then verse 93, here we see quickening leads to remembrance. I will never forget thy precepts, for with them thou hast quickened me. So the benefits received leads to this resolve, I will not forget the Word of God. Why? Because this Word quickens me, it revives me, it stirs up my soul. How can we forget that which does us good? This is what happens naturally. You go into a shop and the service is great, and of course, they give you a little off. You say, wow, I'm going to go back to that shop. And you do. Hoping to get the same marvelous service and a little off. Because you went next door and they didn't bother with you. But you went back to the shop where benefits were received. Well it's the same with the Word of God. Benefits received leads to a resolution. I will not forget God's Word. The seventh is meditation. To read and then get on with life. Without serious meditation upon what we read, what happens? It results in forgetfulness. We have to read the Word of God, and then we have to think about what we've read, and then get on with life, bringing with us that which we have learned from the Word of Truth. So in James 1 verse 24, Verse 23, context says, 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, for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgeteth what manner of man he was. Now what kind of a foolish person is this? Now of course James is using an example. He says, you know what it's like, you're in the mirror and you see a little pimple and you'll spend a lot of time getting rid of that pimple. You want to get rid of it before you head out the door. But, what kind of person would it be? Have he had some ugly thing on his face? He hadn't washed his face, he saw it, oh I must deal with that. And then he turns, he walks away, he goes out into the street forgetting that they had some horrible stain upon his face. And yet there are some, and they do the same with scripture. They look into the mirror of God's Word and they see their sins. And they see the benefits that God has given them. And they see the glories of Christ. They see the duties that they must do. Then they close the book and they get on with life. That disposition, that attitude is a sure way to end up forgetting the Word of God. We must meditate upon it. Meditation followed by practice. is what is required. Verse 25, But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he keeps on looking, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the word. So he looks into the mirror of God's word, and he keeps on looking. And then the more he looks, and the more he meditates, and the more he ponders, then he takes that word and he puts it into practice in his daily life. That's how to have a better memory. It helps us keep in mind the Word of God. There is an interesting contrast or comparison between Matthew 26 and verse 75. We needn't spend too much on it, but just one verse to be with Peter. Peter remembered the Word of Jesus. which said unto him, Before the cock crows, I shall deny me thrice, and he went out and wept bitterly. He remembered. Do you know Mark has it, Mark 14 verse 72, thinking. He thought about it. Richard Steed puts it this way, What one calls remembering, the other calls thinking. This is where we too often feel. We need to read We need to hear and then remember. Not forget. Think it over. Take the Word of God home with you. Think about it. Talk about it. Even talk to yourself if you're on your own. But think about it. Talk about it. Meditation upon the Word of God. Meditating upon what was read, what was heard, what was learned. And then fourthly, objections. Now just a time to deal with two before coming to application. First objection is it is impossible to remember everything. How often we hear that. But you can't remember everything. Well yes that is true. But isn't it interesting how easy we find it is to remember rubbish than it is to remember what is good. And nobody has to cajole us, blackmail us, threaten us, to remember rubbish, or we remember all the rubbish of the day and we forget good things. If our minds are capable of remembering so much rubbish, then they're equally capable of remembering good things to drive out the rubbish. The second objection is, but I have tried and failed. I shall never have a better memory. We're always those who start off with a negative. I've tried but I feel it's never going to happen. Well, if we begin with a negative, it's hardly going to help us to do better. If we've convinced ourselves that we're never going to have a better memory, we'll never even try to have a better memory. If we convince ourselves it's no use trying, then we shall feel. And then, of course, we must also remember original sin has polluted our minds and remaining indwelling sin still there will still affect us, yet it is a biblical duty to have a better mind. The Old Testament statement ratified in the New Testament, Matthew 22, verse 37, this still stands. I shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. All thy mind, not a little portion. Get rid of the rubbish and fill up the space with good things. Let's come to the application very quickly. First one is this. Plain preaching is an aid to a better memory. Plain preaching. This is why sermons have structure. We have a first, a second and a third and if only we lived in better times we would have a fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth. But you see, we've got one to five anyway. One to three generally, sometimes one to five. This evening was one to four. We have to have structure. Plain preaching is important in order to enable believers to remember the Word of God. Do not then despise structured sermons. They are for your benefit. A sermon that aims at nothing, well, will always succeed, I think. If it aims at nothing, will achieve nothing, and no one will remember it. Maybe all of that. I don't know what the theme was. I don't know what the point was. Structured sermons are important. Spurgeon, speaking to his students on this point, said that points are like pegs to hang your thoughts upon. What a wonderful illustration. You've got pegs in your cook room, you hang all your coats on. Well it's the same with a sermon. There must be points and all the thoughts are hung on each of those points and there's a logical progression from one to three. As the passage is opened up and explained without confusion, it gives an illustration of a man going into a butcher's shop and he asks for mustard and he asks for tea and the butcher says, do you want them wrapped separately or all together? He says, I want them wrapped separately, otherwise they'll end up with mustardy tea and the mustard will be no good and the tea will be no good. It should have been wrapped separately. Well that's the way sermons should be. It is not the aim of a sermon to amuse the hearer, to tickle the fancies of the hearer, or to make you love the preacher. The fault of the Greeks was the desire. Remember when Paul went amongst the Greeks? What was their great thing? They always wanted something new. Well, Paul didn't have anything new. He came with the word of God, with the truth of Jesus Christ, and the resurrection. And when they heard all that, they had enough, they didn't want any more. Because they wanted something new. It's not the preacher's task to give you something new, or to take away your fancy. The mark of a good preacher is set out for us in 1 Timothy 4 verse 6. If I put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained." So when you come to this place, or when you go to any other place, you want to hear truth. It may not be put across in a polished, professional style, but you want to hear the truth. That truth that God has revealed and you want to hear it again and again and again. You don't want anything new. That's why we don't need to keep rewriting a confession of faith every ten years. What confusion that would be. A mark of a good preacher is a repetition of old truths, not something new. Secondly, strive to improve your memory. It is a reasonable thing to ask. It is a reasonable thing to do. Romans 6.19 tells us, I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh. For as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity, even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. It's a reasonable thing to do. Before you were converted, see how you used your minds. See the energy that you put into sin. Well, the same energy put into righteous things, put into holy things, put into spiritual things. As then, so now. As you yielded then, so yield now. It's not an unreasonable thing to ask that we put energy and time and effort and resolve into improving our minds. Then thirdly and finally, a good memory will yield profit. I have a whole range of profitable things that the Bible tells us. Proverbs 4 verse 20. My son, attend to my words and climb thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes. Keep them in the midst of thine heart. for they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. And verse 8 and 9, which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye brought no bread? Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? O if only ye remembered what profit there would be now. See all that reasoning? you have forgotten, there is profitability in having a better memory. Psalm 119 verse 52, Psalm 119 verse 52, I remember thy judgments of all the Lord, and have comforted myself. If you had remembered, if you had forgotten, He would be distraught, but he remembered and was comforted. And how often we have proven this in life. We have gone through a difficult patch, and then we recall particular text of scripture, passage of scripture or sermon, an exposition of the Word of God, and as we went back through it, we were comforted and encouraged. I'll point you to Lamentations 3.21 and I'll finish off with Matthew 13, verse 52. Matthew 13, verse 52. Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old. Hard treasure! Filling the mines! with great biblical things. And as we go through life and mature and get older, we've got this huge storehouse and we bring out all these things from it. It's like a man, you know, with an interesting garage full of things that he's collected on his journey. And you go and visit him. And he says, as you're talking about something, oh I remember something like that. Come with me. And he brings you into his garage and you see all this treasure. And he says, look at this here, the very thing you were talking about, isn't it fascinating? And he spent half an hour telling you about it. Well, we have something better. We have scriptural truths. And if we build up a storehouse of scriptural truths, you'll always have conversations and interesting things to say. He never ran out of interesting things to talk about because you'll see I was reading last week in a particular book on that subject or whatever and you know he said this and he said that and we made a few notes on the book and we've gone over it and they're being driven into our minds and maybe five months time we meet someone and they're talking about a particular subject, and you will say, I read about that, it's a scriptural thing, and you bring in these things from the Word of God, and they're all excited, and they say, I'm glad I met you, glad I had this conversation, and I can't wait to go home to read more of the Word of God themselves. But you know what it's like, you meet some old whinger, all they've done all their days is complain about everything, and they're down about everything, they're negative about everything, and they haven't read anything, they're not interested in reading anything and when you tell them about reading something they've got a whole list of complaints as to why you should never read certain things. By the time you're finished, you're tearing your hair out and you're looking at your clock and you say, I really got to go, I have to go and you're away and you sit down and you're deflated and you say, what a chore that was. I'm not going back to see that person for about 10 years. There was a day at that time I had to get back and see them. Because I'd come out and I was completely depressed. And you go to someone else's house. Preachers find this all the time. You go into someone's house. And they've had a life of difficulties. trials and problems, but you go in, and they're beaming, and they're rejoicing, and they're saying about the things they've learned from the Word of God, and they're related to an experience they had 20 or 30 years ago, and how powerful the Word of God was, and how encouraging it was, and you come out of there, you went in to encourage that old dear, and you come out and you've been the one encouraged, and you've come out and said, wow, how fantastic that was! You go to the next person and you're full of joy but you meet a real depressant and everything is bad and everything is negative. Here, Matthew says, on the lips of Christ, every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a householder which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old. Are you like that person, building up a storehouse of good things for the benefit of others? May God bless His word to our hearts. Amen.