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Thoughts by Bro.
Ernest Hawtin
[from LETTERS TO THE CHURCHES book 1]
MEMORY
1/24/67
Many people enjoy wandering down the dimly lighted
paths of memory. It is indeed a blessing to remember His
marvelous works. Some experiences seem to be of encouragement to our faith, but much of the failures and victories of
the past would be just as well forgotten, and the Scriptures
confirm this view by the admonition,
forgetting those things
which are behind (Phi. 3:13).
The work of the Holy Spirit as portrayed in (John 14:26)
is both to teach and bring all things to your remembrance,
whatsoever I have said unto you. Good as your memory
might be, it is not good enough to remember the things He
has said. That which God says is far too important to leave
to the natural memory of man. What of some who cannot remember? The
natural mind may be used to confirm something spiritual, but it can neither receive anything spiritual nor
produce a spiritual result, and it cannot remember what the
Lord says. Of course you can memorize the Scriptures, and I believe this
is a good thing. I once knew some whole chapters by heart. I think of one now, (1 Cor.13). One part goes
like this, Love suffereth long, and is kind; Love envieth not;
Love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,... (1 Cor.13:4).
Not once did my memory ever serve me to remember these
words at the moment that I was puffed up, or boasting, or
envious. You have a memory, but it will never cooperate with the Holy Spirit to
remind you of what He has said at the moment when it is needed. If something stops you in your tracks
at the moment when you do wrong, that is not you, it is the
Holy Spirit! To Him, and to Him alone, is given this work of
reminding us of what the Lord has said. It is so important,
He will never allow anyone else to do it. How belittling to the
Lord for anyone to think the natural mind is quite sufficient to
grasp spiritual things! Spiritual things are spiritually discerned!
We have the mind of Christ!
We must have the Holy Spirit to remind us of the scripture that is applicable to something which is presently taking
place in our lives. When Jesus purged the temple and drove
out the moneychangers, was there any scripture to substantiate a present event? No, not in natural memory. The priests
and Phansees with all their scriptural knowledge couldn’t think
of one. But the Holy Spirit showed the disciples, and they
remembered that it was written,
The zeal of thine house hath
eaten me up. (Jhn. 2:17).
In this same portion, He said,
Destroy this temple, and in three days
I will raise it up. (Jhn. 2:19).
When therefore He was risen from the dead, His disciples
remembered that He had said this unto them;... (Jhn. 2:22).
Our beloved Peter, the apostle, affords us a splendid example of man’s inability to remember God’s words. (Luk.22:34),
And He said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow
this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.
Here is surely a challenge to the natural mind to remember the word of the Lord! I likely would have said to
myself, “I surely can remember that, and will be very careful
NOT to deny Him.” But alas! The words were spirit and life,
so flesh and blood could not retain them! The third denial,
the cock crew! (Verse 61),
And the Lord turned, and looked
upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord,...
This great revelation that only the Lord can remember
the Lord, was to be a continual blessing to Peter, and to all
unto whom he ministered. (2 Pet.1 :9). Anyone who does not
add to his faith has forgotten that he was purged from his
old sins. (Verse 12),
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. They knew,
but couldn’t remember, and in this case we have the Holy
Spirit reminding the people through an apostle, his ministry
being the vehicle through which remembrance came. (Verse.13),
Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to
stir you up by putting you in remembrance: (Verse 15),
Moreover I will endeavour
that ye may be able after my decease
to have these things always in remembrance. See also (2 Pet.3:1-4). By these scriptures we understand that much of
his ministry was devoted to promoting the remembrance of
the Holy Spirit in the minds of the people. When he rehearsed
to the apostles how the Holy Spirit fell on the Gentiles at the house of
Cornelius as he began to speak, he said,
Then remembered I the Word of the Lord, how that He said, John
indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the
Holy Ghost. (Acts 11:16). Here was a blessed experience,
and at that precise moment, the Spirit brought back a word
of the Lord to confirm it, not at that moment a part of the
scripture.
When the disciples saw the stone rolled away, and the body of the Lord gone from
the tomb, they were much confused and perplexed. Though He had told them several times
that He would rise from the dead, they could not remember
it. Two men came in shining garments, and said,
He is not
here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when He was yet in
Galilee, Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the
third day rise again. And they remembered His words (Luk.24:6-8).
You notice that they could not remember of themselves, but had to be reminded by the Holy Spirit through the
agency, this time, of angels. From the time of the revelation
that He was the Christ, Jesus began to shew unto His disciples, how he would suffer many things, and be killed, and
be raised again the third day (Mat. 16:21). He taught them
this Truth many times, but when it happened, they were utterly at a loss to remember His words; but when they were
reminded supernaturally, then I suppose they wondered how
they had so easily forgotten. When God began to move and
revealed prophecy and the laying on of hands, a young man
who was utterly at a loss to grasp the Truth came into my
office, and I was trying to show him how God was moving.
Turning to (1 Tim.
4:14), and reading there concerning the Gifts from his Bible, I asked him had he
ever seen that scripture before, to which he replied, “NO.” Then I called the fact
to his attention that he had it underlined with red pencil! It is
the work of the Holy Spirit to bring ALL things to our remembrance whatsoever He has said.
I must add here that Satan also can bring the word of
God to our remembrance, but for the negative purpose of
unbelief, ridicule, or to condemn. (Mat.27:63),
Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while He was yet alive,
After three days I will rise again. My, they had a much better
memory than the disciples, but it was not them, it was Satan,
trying to cast unbelief on His words. Always try to discern
what spirit a man is in when he is giving out the Word. If he
is not trying to make those words come to pass in the lives of
men, from such turn away. It is a form without power.
This Truth will surely encourage exhortation among the
believers. If you feel that the saints are capable of retaining
what they have heard, and committing it to memory, why keep
exhorting, reminding, and stirring up? No necessity of it. You may
know, but still have to be reminded. (Jude 5),
I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye
once knew this,
(Jude 17), But, Beloved,
remember ye the words which
were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ;
(2 Thes.2:5), Remember ye not, that, when I was yet
with you, I told you these things? (2 Tim. 2:14),
Of these
things put them in remembrance (Heb.3:13),
But exhort one another daily,
while it is called To day;... Exhortation
is one of the best ways the Holy Spirit has of reminding us!
Let us also include remembering the ministries and servants
of the Lord, as it something that is promoted by the Holy
Spirit. (1 Cor.11:2),
Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all
things (1 Thes.3:6), ...and that ye have good remembrance of us always (Heb.13:7),
Remember them which have the rule over you, who have
spoken unto you the Word of God:...
Finally, if I told you that you ever could forget the Lord, or
the precious blood that He shed, you would probably think I
was wrong. Why do we need something to call it all back to
our remembrance? This do in remembrance of me was spoken of the Lord’s supper (Luk.22:19, 1 Cor.11:24-25). Each
time we are privileged to partake of the communion, we cannot help but remember the broken body and the shed blood.
I know His blood was shed for me, but I do not have the
same remembrance of it as when my lips touch the cup, nor
can I remember healing the same, or even discern the Body,
as when I partake of the bread. People who scarce ever
take the communion are robbed of the full meaning of Salvation for spirit, soul, and body, and will tail see the healing of
the body of Christ. Take it, and remember. This is its purpose.
Don’t worry about forgetting. Some folks are always afraid they will forget all
the theology they learned, and the doctrines they believed in and fought over.
Why not forget everything
that He does not bring to our remembrance? If He does not recall it for
us, it can’t be worth remembering. Just forget it. Someone mentioned
church membership the other day. If the Spirit can’t bring you a scripture
on it, forget it. Likely there are none. Ecumenical? The Lord reminds us
that it is Babylon, not true unity. Bible schools? No revelation on
them being right, the local church is the Bible school for all saints.
Forget those things that are behind, and remember only those things that He
brings to our remembrance.
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