Trust that we have been blessed already this morning by being here and discussing God's Word. For our message, I invite you to turn to Exodus chapter 12. We're not going to be reading the whole chapter, just a few verses here and there. Title to the message this morning is, Remember the Lord Thy God. Deuteronomy 8 verse 11 says, Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God." And I guess what inspired the message is the day tomorrow that we know as Memorial Day. It is a day of remembering. The dictionary says a memorial is something such as a monument or a holiday. designed or established to serve as a remembrance of a person or an event. Memorial Day, the last Monday in May, is an official U.S. holiday. It is celebrated in honor of those who were killed in battle, in war for our country. It is a patriotic holiday. A patriot is someone who loves, supports, and defends his country. So Memorial Day is a reminder of patriotic duties for those who belong to this world. But it should remind us as God's people that we are part of another kingdom, the kingdom of God. Holidays like Memorial Day and Independence Day or July 4th should prompt us to thank God for the freedoms that we have in our country. It should also inspire us or remind us to pray for our government, our president, those in authority over us. Beyond that, I think we should leave the holidays to the world. And I'm talking about Memorial Day and Independence Day. I'm not saying it's wrong to take the day off work. Probably most of us take at least half a day off, or some of you all day, and that's okay. But it certainly should not be a day off in our Christian life and service. You know, I think these days provide special opportunities for us. To spread the gospel, to help others who have needs, to lend a helping hand, to visit a neighbor or shut-ins. Or maybe it's just spending the day with family, building relationships. Could we say serving God by serving others? You know, God expects us to be faithful on Memorial Day just like any other day. faithful in spreading the gospel, in being a witness. May God give us wisdom to clearly represent Him and His people on days like tomorrow. Now, the Bible also speaks of memorials and things that God's people were and are expected to remember. Things that happened, usually after some great miracle that God performed, He also put a memorial in place so that his people could remember the mighty thing that was done for their deliverance. This morning we want to look at a few of those memorials. Exodus chapter 12, the children of Israel were in bondage. They were captive slaves in Egypt for several hundred years. God heard their cry for deliverance. They were being cruelly treated and they cried out to God, please deliver us. God heard that cry. He sent Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh and they told him, please let my people go. The Bible says that God hardened Pharaoh's heart and he would not let the people go. It says he hardened his heart that he might show him his signs. He wanted to show the Egyptians his power. And that he is in control like we heard this morning. God is in control of the weather. God was in control of the plagues that came over Egypt. And he brought a number of plagues. There was hardly anything left. The land was stripped, barren and almost destroyed. And still Pharaoh would not let them go. God said, I will bring one more plague on the people of Egypt. I will take life. I will take the firstborn in the house and the firstborn in the barn. Man and beast. And in order for the Israelites to be spared from that plague, an innocent lamb without blemish had to be slain. Blood had to be shed and the blood had to be applied in the right place. The lamb was a sacrifice or a substitute for the person that was spared. Verses one through 10, God is telling Moses and Aaron what kind of sacrifice to use and how to prepare it and how to eat it. They were to be ready to leave when they ate the meat of the lamb. He also told them what to do with the blood. Verse 11 through 14, Exodus chapter 12. And thus shall you eat with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, your staff in your hand, and you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and against all the gods of Egypt, I will execute judgment. I am the Lord. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt. And this day shall be unto you for a memorial, and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. Ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever. I am the Lord. He was going to prove that he is God, that he is in control, that Pharaoh could do nothing to spare the firstborn, even in his own house. I am the Lord. I will execute judgment against all the gods of the Egyptians. We have that same God today. He is still the Lord. And He will execute judgment on all the wickedness of America someday. All the gods of America. All the gods of the world. Verse 15-20, the Feast of the Passover is instituted. It was a yearly feast that lasted seven days. in remembrance of their deliverance. Reading in verse 21 through 28, then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said unto them, draw out and take you a lamb according to your families and kill the Passover. And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning. For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians. And when he seeth the blood upon the lintel and on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you. And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons forever. And it shall come to pass when ye be come to the land which the Lord will give you, according as he has promised, that ye shall keep this service. And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, what mean ye by this service? That ye shall say, it is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped. And the children of Israel went away and did as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they. Moses was now telling the people what to do and what would take place. Verse 28 says, and so they did. Obedience to God's word spared the firstborn in their houses and in their barns. Verse 29 goes on to say how the Lord came through Egypt and he smote the firstborn in every house and in every barn. Verse 30 says there was a great cry in Egypt for there was not a house where there was not one dead. Verse 31 and following Pharaoh calls for Moses and Aaron and begs them to leave that night yet. Leave in haste. Take everything you have. Take your flocks and your herds and just get out of here. Be on your way. If you stay, we will all be dead. He was pleading for them to leave. Verse 40, now the sojourning of the children of Israel who dwell in Egypt was 430 years. And it came to pass at the end of the 430 years, even to self same day, it came to pass that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. It is a night to be much observed unto the Lord for bringing them out from the land of Egypt. This is that night of the Lord to be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations. A memorial was put in place, remembering what God had done in delivering them, not only in sparing their firstborn, but also the great deliverance of bringing a mass of people out of Egypt, out of bondage, and heading them on their way to Canaan. You know, I'm sure every year, when the time came around for the Feast of the Passover, there were young people, there were children, that would ask, why do we keep this Feast? Why do we eat unleavened bread for seven days? What's the big fuss? What's the deal? And the parents could answer, this is a time of remembering our great deliverance. It was teachable moments. It was a way to pass that faith on to the next generation. I'm sure they told them stories of what happened, how the death angel passed over. And when he saw the blood on their doorposts, he would skip that house. He would go on to the Egyptian house. It was a way of telling their children of the mighty power of God and of the great deliverance that they experienced. I'm sure they told Him, told their children how that He is the Lord and how that He executed judgment on the gods of Egypt. How that He will keep His Word. He will do what He says. He told them He would deliver them. That's exactly what He did. I'm sure they told them also what was their part in it. They were to be obedient. They were to prepare a lamb. They were to eat it a certain way. They were to have shoes on their feet and ready to go. They were obedient and God delivered them. God blesses those who walk with him in faithful obedience. All right, another account in Joshua chapter three and four. Again, about the children of Israel. Again, they were to set up a monument as a means to help them remember God's mighty power. The children of Israel were now camped close to the Jordan River, eager to enter the land of Canaan. You know, they had been at this place before. Forty years before, and they had doubted. Because of unbelief, they could not enter in. They had doubted that they could conquer the land. Their unbelief led to forty years of wandering in the wilderness. Forty years of humbling. Forty years of learning how that God will teach His people. How that God will lead his people. Forty years of learning that God's word is true. God is faithful. Forty years of learning that God cares for his people and provides for them. Now here they are again at the same place with the Jordan River keeping them from entering. And by the way, the river was flooded at this time. There was no way humanly possible to cross that river into Canaan. Why did God bring them here in the springtime? That river always flooded in the spring. It was over its banks. He could have timed it that they would have been there in the summer when the river was at its lowest. I believe it was to test their faith and to demonstrate his mighty power. God showed his great power by working a miracle in allowing his people to cross that river on dry ground. when it was at its deepest. I think that power, that demonstration of that power, served to build the Israelites' hope in God and their faith in God. It also gave them a great reputation with their enemies, by whom they were way outnumbered. Their enemies had a fear of them because of what happened. First it took faith on their part. And obedience. It says they were to come hither and hear the words of the Lord. They were to take time to listen to what God had to say. There were certain things they had to do before that water parted. Any effort on their part aside from doing it God's ways would have been a failure. Would not have worked. I think that 40-year teaching program in the wilderness caused them at this moment to trust God. They knew they were up against something that they could not do on their own. It would take a miracle for them to cross from here to there. And so I believe they had learned to trust God when they faced an obstacle like the flooded Jordan River. You know, God did not just part the water and tell them to hurry through before it again closes in on you. He gave two commands. The people were to get ready to cross over Jordan, and the priests were to get their feet wet. Two commands, two simple commands. It took faith for the people to gather up their tents. to pack their bags and be ready to travel when they could see the valley flooded with water. They probably couldn't even tell where the river was because it was over the banks. It took faith to pack their bags and plan to cross. How would it be done? It took even greater faith for the priests to step into the water. It would have been foolish for them to put the ark on their shoulder, come up to the water, to the river's edge, put their feet in, and turn around and say, it's exactly like I figured it would be. The water keeps right on flowing. It was foolish for us to try this. That's not what happened. They had faith that God would provide a way. When they put their feet in the water, something happened. You know, we still serve that same God today. He doesn't just do some big miracle and we sit back and do nothing. He usually does not begin His work by performing a huge miracle. He gives small commands in a still small voice. And we have to take time to listen, to hear His voice, to hear what He has to say, what He wants us to do. And then we follow in obedience, in faith, and trust Him. And He begins to work through us mighty things. Imagine yourselves being one of those priests. Carrying the ark. You step into that water. And suddenly, the water on your left is a wall. And on your right continues to flow. Now there's a path. And you would think, well, I can hurry through. I'm just minutes away from the promised land. We'll hurry through here on dry ground. But wait, what about the people? They were commanded to step into the riverbed. I don't know, but I would imagine the water was higher than their head. And they were to stand in the middle of the river till everyone had passed. You know, their faith was rewarded for getting their feet wet. The water did part, but I think the real test came after that. They could have just hurried through there and be done with it. But they had learned in those 40 years as well to obey God. And He had told them to stop in the middle of the river until everyone was through. Okay, now you're standing there holding the ark, and the people are a half a mile away from the river yet. And you start thinking of all the time it's going to take for the first person to get to the river. After that you start thinking of the thousands of people and the livestock involved. How long we're going to stand here until the first person comes and then until the last person is through. This will take hours. All the while you have a wall of water just waiting to cover you up. You would stand there and you'd see moms and dads coming up with their children. And I'm sure they'd look both ways. Look at the water. They'd grab their children and maybe they'd run through the river. All the while you have to stand there, holding the ark. Even after the last ones are through, there's another ritual to perform. You still can't leave the river. Now 12 men, one from each tribe, turns around. I mean, these men went through that river. They could have picked up a stone on their way through. But no. They were already through. They had to turn around, come back, select a stone, and carry it out. Okay, now we're done. After that, Joshua goes down and sets up 12 more stones in the river before the priests can leave. It would be interesting to know how long they stood in the riverbed. It took faith on their part, I'm sure. Joshua chapter 4 verse 10. For the priests which bear the ark stood in the midst of Jordan until everything was finished that the Lord commanded Joshua to speak unto the people. According to all that Moses commanded Joshua, And the people hasted and passed over. We see faith here and obedience. They followed the command of the Lord. They stayed where they were supposed to be. Verse 15, And the Lord spake unto Joshua, saying, Command the priests that they bear the ark of the testimony, that they come up out of Jordan. Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, Come ye up out of Jordan. And it came to pass, when The priests that bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord were come up out of the midst of Jordan and the souls of the priest's feet were lifted up onto the dry land that the waters of Jordan returned to their place and flowed over all his banks as they did before. And the people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first month and encamped in Gilgal in the east border of Jericho. And those twelve stones which they took out of Jordan did Joshua pitch in Gilgal. And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones? Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land. For the Lord your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you until ye were passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up from before us until we were gone over. That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty, that ye might fear the Lord your God forever. What mean these stones? It's so that we remember God. They were to teach their children to remember what God did in taking the children from the wilderness to Canaan. How He parted the river and they were able to cross on dry land. God was trying to increase their faith and their trust in Him. You know, when God calls us to take a step of faith, He's also likely to place us in the river and tell us to wait, to test our faith. And that waiting period will increase our faith. It will prepare us for what lies ahead. We know not what's on tomorrow. God might have us be waiting today to increase our faith so that we can face tomorrow. Why all the details? Why the rocks? Well, it was a memorial, again a memorial, or a reminder to help them remember God. Passing the faith to the next generation. Verse 24, it is teaching that the Lord is mighty, that He is in control of all things. He could control the flooded river. Don't ask me what happened with all that water that was flowing when He stopped the flow. You would think it would back up somewhere. The Bible doesn't tell us. There is nothing too hard for God. I think it was a time when they could put the fear of the Lord in their children's hearts. Fear meaning reverence or respect or awe. These things took place to draw a man's heart to himself. Another memorial is in the New Testament. put in place by Jesus himself, we call it the communion service. Not going into a lot of detail, I had a message on that several weeks ago. But at the last supper, when Jesus took the bread and break it, he took the cup and said, drink ye of it. The bread was a symbol of his broken body that was given for us. The cup symbolizes the blood that was shed for us. And following, he said, this do in remembrance of me. It's a memorial. It reminds us every six months of what Jesus did for us. We're a forgetful people. We need reminders to help us remember God. to remember the sacrifice that Jesus made for our redemption. We were born in sin. We were living in Egypt. We needed someone to deliver us, to take us out of bondage, out of sin, to die in our place. Jesus Christ was that sinless lamb without blemish that was slain for us, to redeem us, to bring us out of bondage, to bring us out of Egypt. You know, when God pours out His judgment on all ungodliness, like He did on the Egyptians, and He sees the blood applied to our heart, He will pass over us. Thank God. He will pass over our heart, my heart and your heart, if He sees the blood applied. He rose again so that we can rise in newness of life. And by His Spirit, He gives us strength and courage to be faithful as we travel through the wilderness of life. He lets things come our way. Obstacles come our way to increase our faith. And my friends, someday, when we get to the flood of Jordan River, He'll be there to part the waters. And we can go through on dry land into glory. All right, we looked at three memorials that were put in place in the Bible. All three had to do with a great deliverance of God's people. Number one was sparing the firstborn and delivering his people out of Egypt. Number two, it was taking his people from the wilderness into the land of Canaan. And number three, delivering us from the power of sin, translating us into the kingdom of his dear son. Why all these memorials? There's more in the Bible. We just looked at three. Why all these memorials? We as human beings need to be reminded. You know, one of the few things that gets better with age is our forgetter. And we need reminders. Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God. Turn to Deuteronomy chapter 8. In Deuteronomy chapter 8 verse 1, all the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live and multiply and go in and possess the land which the Lord swear unto your fathers. And by the way, this was written just prior to them crossing the Jordan River, talking about the children of Israel, and it's a reminder for us today as well. Verse two, and thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these 40 years in the wilderness. Why, to humble thee and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments or no. And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not. Neither did thy fathers know, that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live. Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell these forty years. Thou shalt also consider in thine heart that as a man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee. Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him. For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley and vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of oil, olive and honey, a land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, Thou shalt not lack anything in it. A land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass. When thou hast eaten our food, then shalt thou bless the Lord thy God for the good land which he hath given thee. Verse 11. Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God in not keeping his commandments and his judgments, and his statutes which I command thee this day. Lest when thou hast eaten an artful and hast built goodly houses and dwelt therein, when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied, then thine heart be lifted up and thou forget the Lord thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage, who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness wherein were fiery serpents and scorpions and drought and where there was no water, who brought thee forth water out of the rock of Flint, who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee to do thee good at thy latter end. And thou say in thine heart, my power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth. but thou shalt remember the Lord thy God. For it is he that hath given thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he swearen to thy fathers, as it is this day. And it shall be If thou do at all forget the Lord thy God and walk after other gods and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish. As the nations with which the Lord destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish, because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the Lord your God. They were being admonished to not forget the Lord their God. They had almost nothing at this point. They didn't even have their own food. They depended on manna every morning. Here they were ready to cross the Jordan River with nothing to their name. And they were being warned. Once you enter the land and your storehouses are full, you have everything you want. There's no lack of what you can get. Beware. First of all, Moses was exhorting the people to obedience, to keep and to observe all the commandments of the Lord. Chapter 6, verse 4 and 5 is the greatest commandment. It says, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. That was the greatest commandment they were to keep. That commandment is still for us today. If we get that one right, all the others fall into place. Verses 2 to 5, he's reminding them of God's mercy and goodness in providing for them in the wilderness. Many things happen to humble them, to get them to see that without God we are nothing. We can't even provide for our own food. They suffered hunger. He gave them manna. They were thirsty. He gave them water out of a rock. He provided for their needs in miraculous ways. Says their shoes, their clothes never wore out. Their feet did not swell from all the walking. God was trying to win their heart in those 40 years. Their will, their trust, their faith. He wanted them to obey Him out of a willing heart. Verse 7, to the end of the chapter, He is admonishing to remember God in times of prosperity. Like I said, they had practically nothing, and already they were being warned that once you have what you want, that you forget not God. They were entering the land of Canaan. It says a land with lots of springs full of good water. Crops that will produce bountifully. Everything you can imagine was at their fingertips. There will be grapes, figs, fruit, olive oil and honey. No shortage of bread. No lack of anything. There's going to be iron and brass to mine out of the hills. Sounds like America today. We have everything at our fingertips. All we have to do is swipe the card and sign our name. We can get just about whatever we want to. But notice all the dangers that come with it. Verse 11, beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God. We tend to become self-sufficient and think we don't need God. We can do it ourselves. Verses 14 and 17 talks about pride. It is by my power, I have done this thing. I deserve these riches. I will use them as I please and we forget that all these things belong to God. We are called to be stewards of what he has given us, what he has blessed us with. Another thing that happens is in verse 19. And it shall be if thou do at all forget the Lord thy God and walk after other gods. Oh, we say how foolish of them to go to some high place where there was a grove of trees and fall down and worship Baal or some other idol that their heathen neighbors had set up. My friends, today we have many idols set up. Many gods around us that cause us to forget the true God. We have the God of wealth. We have the God of sports and entertainment. We have the God of technology. The God of idle time. The God of lavish vacations. The God of cars and trucks and you name it. The list goes on and on. My friends, all of these things can become gods to us. And idol to us. A means for us to forget the true God. You know, these gods require sacrifice as well. We will offer our life and our soul on the altar of the object we choose to worship. We will sacrifice our relationship with the true God. We will sacrifice His guidance, peace, and blessing on our life. In its place will be punishment, unholiness, guilt, spiritual emptiness. My dear friends, this morning I trust that we have placed all these things on the altar of sacrifice. We have totally committed our hearts, our life, our will, our mind, our finances, our future to the one and only God. Life in Jesus Christ requires discipline. It requires sacrifice. It requires hard work. And I think that's why a lot of people miss it today. It's too much work, too much commitment. We can't do it. But I believe as our friendship with God deepens, we discover that the things of the world have no lasting value. There's nothing out there that satisfies us like Jesus Christ, a deep relationship with Him. As that friendship deepens, it leads to strength of character. It brings peace of mind and a deep satisfaction. You know, the rewards of serving God and obeying God are greater than anything or everything that the world has to offer. There is no comparison. Remember the Lord thy God. You know, today we have a memorial to help us remember God. And we probably all have one on our lap. It's God's Word. It's a memorial. As we apply our hearts to it. As we take time to read it. It's a reminder of who God is and what He has done for us. And the miracle He performed in saving us from destruction. The Bible. I came across a quote that said, read it to be wise. Believe it to be safe. Practice it to be holy. Memorize it to grow. That's God's Word. That's our memorial today. Helps us remember God. What mean these stones? What do we say when someone asks us, what mean these stones? Like the children of Israel. Why do we go to church? And these are questions we get from our small children. What is that on your head, sisters? Why do we eat bread and drink juice at communion? Why do we pour water on someone's head at baptism? What mean these stones? What is our answer? It's a way for us to pass the faith to the next generation. It's a teachable moment. It's how we build character in our young children. We teach them and instill into their hearts the fear of God. The great and mighty power of God. The things He's done, not only in the past, but what He's doing in our life today. You know, when we tell others what He's done for us, how He saved us from sin, how He forgave our sins, how He answered our prayers, how He provided for our needs when we faced obstacles, that helps keep the memories of God's faithfulness alive in our families, in our churches, and in society around us. When we are quiet and say nothing, how do we expect that to keep going? What mean these stones? Remember the Lord thy God. I'm going to close with chapter 7 in Deuteronomy verse 9. Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations. My friends, passing the faith to the next generation is one of the most important things we have to do in life. Prepare our own heart, first of all, and then take care of the loved ones around us. passing the faith. What mean these stones? Remember the Lord thy God. Let's kneel for prayer.