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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.
How can We Improve Our Memory in Relation to Spiritual Things?
Series Questions Asked of Ministers
- The corrupation of the memory through the Fall.
- Hindrances to a better memory.
- Helps to a better memory.
- Objections.
Application 1: plain preaching is an aid to a better memory. 2: strive to improve your memory. 3: a good memory will yield profit.
| Sermon ID | 3909929443 |
| Duration | 59:06 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday Service |
| Bible Text | 1 Corinthians 15:2 |
| Language | English |
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