You know, I gave my life to Christ when I was 22 years old in 1971. I was a student at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. And immediately after doing this, I left Chapel Hill and I hitchhiked around the country with my dog for six months. His name was Noah.
And then finally we came here to the Northern Virginia area and began living in Arlington at the Good News Mission where I worked as a janitor. Now, here's a picture what I looked like in those days, just to give you a little frame of reference. Anyway, my dog Noah was a big German Shepherd. He weighed about 85 pounds. He'd never been beaten in a dog fight in his life. And in the house next door to where we were living in South Arlington lived another German Shepherd.
This dog weighed over 100 pounds. He was a former police dog. He was mean and he was nasty and he was tough.
His name was Duke. Well, when we moved in at this house, Noah decided to go over and visit Duke in his front yard. And they, to me, they proceeded to get into a dog fight and this dog just shwacked Noah really good. He came home limping and bleeding and whimpering.
So I patched him up a little bit and in a week or so he was alright. And then you'll never believe what he did next. He went back into this dog's front yard and they got into another dog fight and this dog whooped him again. He came home bleeding again. I patched him up and could you possibly guess what he did a third time? He went back into that dog's front yard and this time Duke tore his ear flat in half.
I mean it was hanging by a thread when he came home. So I went to the vet and we're sitting there in the waiting room at the veterinarian's office and I remember it with my dog. I remember turning to him and saying out loud, I said, Noah, you know what? You are without a doubt the dumbest dog I ever saw in my life. I mean, well, how is it that you keep forgetting what that dog does to you every time you go in his front yard? You stupid. Well, Noah had a short memory.
That was a problem for that dog. And you know what friends, having a short memory is a problem for us as followers of Christ sometimes too. And that's what we want to talk about today. We want to talk about elongating our memory as followers of Christ. And I'll explain what that means to you if you'll open your Bible to Exodus chapter 15. If you brought a Bible, Exodus chapter 15. And if you didn't bring a Bible, we have a copy for you right under your armrest. We're going to be on page 51 in our copy of the Bible, page 51 in our copy, Exodus chapter 15 in your copy.
And while you're turning, let me give you a little bit of background. Remember that after Pharaoh set the Israelites free, he changed his mind. And he decided to go after them with more than 1000 chariots. And so God opened the Red Sea so the Israelites could walk through in safety. And when the chariots of Pharaoh followed the Israelites into the Red Sea, God caused the water to collapse back on them, killing them all. And so the Israelites marched on into the Sinai desert from the Red Sea, praising God for his wonderful deliverance.
Now that's where we've been. And so we pick up chapter 15 of Exodus, verse 22. Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea, and they went into the desert. And for three days, they traveled in the desert without finding water. And when they came to Marah, they could not drink the water there, because it was bitter. Now Marah today is the modern little town of Ayin Harawa. I'll show you a map to show you where it is.
And I was actually there in 2004 as part of leading our footsteps of Moses tour. Even today the water in this town is still bitter and undrinkable. Now the problem with the water here is that it is loaded with magnesium. And magnesium not only makes water taste terrible, but in high doses, magnesium is also a powerful laxative that causes intense bowel issues. This water was kind of like the ex-lax of the Sinai. You understand what I'm saying?
And it was a lady at this town in 2004 that I met. She told me the camels won't even drink the water in this place. Now that's bad if camels won't drink it. And so the people grumbled against Moses, verse 24, saying, What are we to drink? Now look at this, friends, in three days, these people had forgotten all about the 10 plagues. They had forgotten how God had opened the Red Sea for them. They had forgotten about how God had drowned all the pharaohs, all of Pharaoh's chariots.
They had forgotten all of God's awesome displays of power in Egypt. And they had gone from praising God to doubting God and criticizing God in three days. Verse 25. So Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. And Moses threw the tree into the water and the water became sweet and drinkable. You say, Lon, was this a miracle or not?
Absolutely it was. In the 35 centuries since Moses, the Bedouin have never found any tree out there that will turn these waters sweet. This was a supernatural miracle performed by Almighty God himself to once again demonstrate to these Israelites that God was perfectly capable of meeting their every need if they would just trust him.
Verse 27. Then they came to Elam, where there were 12 springs and 70 palm trees, and they camped there near the water. Here's our map again to show you where they were going.
And the Israelites stay here at Elam almost a month, relaxing with lots of great water to drink. You say, Okay, okay, Lon. So at Mara, they had a bad day. All right, let's just say they had a bad day. But then they got to Elam, they pulled themselves together. They got their mind right. And from then on, everything was great.
Yes, no, no. For chapter 16, verse one, then the Israelites set out from Elam and went into the wilderness of Zin, which is between Elam and Mount Sinai on the 15th day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt. Once again, the map just so you know where they're going. And once again, verse two, the whole community of Israelites began to grumble against Moses and Aaron. And they said, If only we had died by the Lord's hand in the land of Egypt. There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted. But you guys have brought us out here in the desert to starve us all to death.
Now is this amazing or what? No sooner do the Israelites leave the comfy environs of Elam, then they start grumbling again, and they start complaining again. This time the issue is the food. Now the Bible doesn't tell us what the Israelites were eating out in the wilderness. But whatever it was, they were running out of it. And they were worried that they were going to starve to death in the desert. Now friends think for a second, doesn't it make good sense that the same God who only a month ago had turned bitter water into sweet water? Doesn't it make good sense that that very same God could provide whatever food they needed if they would just trust him?
Doesn't that make sense? These guys had a real short memory, didn't they? And that reminds me of what Dr. John Davis in his book, Moses and the Gods of Egypt says, and I quote, he said, The Israelites here in the desert exhibit a remarkably short memory.
Well, I would say that's an understatement. And spiritually, why is this a problem? Well, look what Dr. Davis goes on to say, and I quote, he said, without the constant memory of what God has done in the past, and based on it, a deep rooted faith in what God has promised to do in the future, a person can easily be overcome by the emotions of any given situation. Now that is so important. I want to repeat it.
So listen, without the constant memory of what God has done in the past, and based on it, a deep rooted faith in what God has promised to do in the future, a person can easily be overcome by the emotions of any given situation, just as the Israelites were overcome in the wilderness. Now, folks, that's as far as we want to go in our passage today, because it's time now for us to stop and ask our most important question of the morning. And you know what that is. So are you ready? Two of you ready? Are you ready? All right, here we go.
Nice and loud. One, two, three. Yeah, you say, Lon, so what? Say the maps are all nice, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
What difference does any of that make to our life today in the 21st century? All right, let's talk about it. Friends, let's ask the question, what really was the Israelites' problem here in the Sinai? What was their exact problem? You say, well, Lon, their problem is they were running out of water to drink.
No, I'm sorry. That was not the real problem. You say, all right, well, then the real problem was they were running out of food to eat.
No, I'm sorry. That was not the real problem. The real problem, friends, is they forgot who God was.
That was the real problem. They forgot his power, his majesty, his awesomeness that he had just displayed for them a few days before in Egypt. And as a result of forgetting who God was, they failed to see the obstacles in the desert that they were facing through the lens of God's omnipotence. And the result of this is that they caved in, they tubed, they folded up like an old cardboard box, and they collapsed both spiritually and emotionally.
Now, you know, it's been my experience that lots of us as followers of Jesus Christ in our modern world have the very same problem that these Israelites had. You see, God will show us his power in some amazing way. God will show us his awesomeness in some situation of life.
God will step in and do something positively magnificent for us, like he did for the Israelites when he opened the Red Sea. And for a while, we're on cloud nine, like they were walking around and praising God. And then as soon as the next crisis hits our life, we forget about everything God did for us the week before, the month before, the year before. And we once again become card carrying members of the Back to Egypt Club, complaining, griping, all the time.
I see it. And friends, when this occurs, three bad things start to happen in our lives. Number one, we begin to doubt God, we begin to question God's leading in our life, we become disillusioned about how God is running the show. And that leads to bad thing number two, which is we begin to complain against God, just like the Israelites did here in the book of Exodus, we begin to grumble and murmur and impugn God and insult God. And that leads to bad thing number three, which is we begin to disobey God, all of this doubting, and all of this complaining undermines our spiritual life. And we start to become sloppy, we start to become careless, we start to become flippant, we start to become spiritually numb. And if we're not careful, we can even become spiritually defiant, like these Israelites did. I mean, we find ourselves thinking, hey, if God is going to do this to me, if God is going to lead me here and treat me like this, then why in the world should I care about him?
I mean, if he doesn't care about me, then why should I obey him? Now, friends, when this starts happening in our lives as followers of Christ, when we start moving down these three stages, you mark it down, your spiritual life, my spiritual life will start drying up and shriveling up like an old prune. And our problem is very simple. We have caught spiritual amnesia. We have forgotten God in our circumstances. So let's ask the question as we conclude today.
Here's our really critical question. As a follower of Christ, how can I elongate my spiritual memory as a follower of Christ? How do I create a longer spiritual memory that I can bring to bear on the circumstances of my life? Well, I've got three suggestions for you.
And we're done. Number one, want to elongate your spiritual memory number one, then stay in the scripture. I love what David said, Psalm 77. He said, I will remember the deeds of the Lord. Yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. How David, how are you going to remember them? I will meditate on your word.
That's how I'm going to remember them. And I will remind myself of your mighty deeds. Folks, one of the key reasons God gave us the written Word of God was so that we would not forget who he is. So we would not forget what he's done in the past. So we would not forget his awesome power and his awesome promises, so that we would not forget how faithful he has been to every promise he has ever made. And so that we would bring this reservoir of spiritual memory to bear on every situation we face in our lives. And as followers of Christ, when we do this, when we bring this spiritual reservoir to bear on our present day problems, the results are dramatic. It produces a spiritual resiliency and a spiritual confidence that enables us to withstand anything this world throws at us.
That's why David said, Psalm 19, 165, great peace have they who love your word and nothing can make them stumble. So number one, you want to elongate your spiritual memory in the affairs of life, then my friends get into the written Word of God and stay there. Number two, want to elongate your spiritual memory?
Number two, then stay humble. I love what Moses said to the Israelites, Deuteronomy chapter eight, he said, when you have eaten, and you are satisfied in the Promised Land, you've built houses, and your herds have multiplied and your silver and gold has increased, be careful. Be careful that your heart does not become proud and you forget the Lord verse 17. Do not say to yourself, my power and the strength of my hand has made me all this well.
But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the power to make well. Folks, one of the greatest sources of spiritual amnesia is arrogance, the kind of arrogance that comes from human success, divorced from the acknowledgement of God in that success, the kind of arrogance that comes from affluence, power, fame and position divorced from an acknowledgement of God in that affluence and position in power, the kind of arrogance that thrives here in Washington DC, the way bacteria thrive in a petri dish. Watch out for it. It's dangerous.
And let me tell you why. It's dangerous friends, because this kind of arrogance causes us to begin to commit idolatry and to worship other gods, namely ourselves, ourselves. Suddenly we begin thinking that all of this success and all of this blessing came from us. Suddenly we begin to believe that we are the masters of our fate, that we are the captains of our souls and we forget God simply because we don't feel we need God anymore.
Watch out. Listen to what Moses said, Deuteronomy 8 19. He said, for if you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods, even yourself and worship them, I testify to you today that you will surely be destroyed. Now, this is not just a warning to the Israelites 3500 years ago. My friends, this is a warning to every one of us as a follower of Christ today.
And if you don't believe that God's telling the truth, just look back over this last year right here in DC over the sad endings of some careers right here in this town. If you don't believe that arrogance will bring you down. Humility that is actively acknowledging before God every day, that we are where we are in life only because of his mercy, his grace, his benevolence, his kindness, humility will elongate our spiritual memory.
Why? Because it forces God right into the forefront of our brains every single day. Number three, and finally, want to elongate your spiritual memory, then folks stay grateful. Psalm 105 David says, give thanks to the Lord and call upon his name. Remember the wonders he has done for you, his miracles and his marvels. Psalm 103 verse two, David says, bless the Lord all my soul and forget none of his benefits. You know, the best way not to forget the Lord is to practice a discipline that forces us to remember the Lord. Let me repeat that the best way not to forget the Lord is to practice the discipline that forces us to remember the Lord and that discipline is to actively thank God every day for everything he's done for us.
You know, every morning before I get out of bed, I have what I like to call thank you time. This is a habit I've developed over the years and walking with Christ. I lay there in bed before I ever get out and I go back through and thank God for everything he's done for me over the years, everything he's done for my family, everything he's done for this church over the years, things that people said could not be done, but God did them. Things that people said could not happen, but they happen.
Things that people said there is no way under heaven these things could work out, but they worked out. And you know what, folks, because I do that before I ever get out of bed, let me tell you, I find that that thank you time forces me to remember what God has done for me and when I do this, when I remember what God has done for me in the past, the Holy Spirit uses that in my life to give me a spiritual boldness, a spiritual confidence and a spiritual power when it comes to looking to the things of the future because I have the very same God in the future that I had in the past. And if God did all these things in the past, there is no reason in the world that same God can't do them all in the future. Do you understand? Do you say, Lon, do you thank him for the same things every day over and over? Yeah, I do. And then I add on the new ones. When God does something new, I lick it and stick it on.
But yeah, I do. I go all the way back to the day I came to Christ and say, I start saying, Lord Jesus, thank you. Thank you, Lord Jesus. You know, friends, I've seen God work too many times in the past to doubt his work in the future. I said that. I'm kind of proud of myself for saying that.
It's the only creative thing I ever came up with. But I have seen God work too many times in the past to doubt his work in the future. And it's when I go back every morning and say, yes, God did this. And yes, God did that. And yes, God. And oh, yeah, God. And oh, yeah, God did that. Friends, what I am doing is creating a platform in my life to trust God for the future.
Stay grateful. You know, when I think about this, I think of David and Goliath. You remember the story? David shows up there and Goliath is out challenging anybody in Israel to a one on one winner take all.
Remember that? And he goes to King Saul and he says, I'll go out there and fight him. King Saul says to him, 1 Samuel 17, you're not able to go out there and fight this Philistine. You're just a boy. You're just a runt.
You're just a midget. He's been a warrior since his youth. Now listen to what David says. And David said, when I was tending my father's sheep, and a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock. I went out after that lamb and I attacked him. And when the lion or the bear rose up against me, I would seize them by the beard and I killed him. David said the Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion, and the Lord who delivered me from the paw of the bear, he will deliver me from the hand of that Philistine out there. And I love what Saul says to him. Saul says, well go and the Lord be with you. Because none of us are going to be God bless you out there son. Now friends, what is it that turned David from a spiritual midget into a spiritual giant?
One simple thing. He went back and remembered what God had done for him in the past. What God had done for him with the lion. What God had done for him with the bear. And he said, I've got the same God. They didn't even defy God like this Philistine did.
He's going to be a piece of cake. And David used what God had done for him in the past. Do you see this? To create a platform and a basis on which to trust God for the future. Want to elongate your spiritual memory? Friends learn to be grateful and thank God every day for what he's done for you. And bring that stuff up into the front of your brain every day so that it's a platform for you to go out and face a new day of trust in Christ.
So let's summarize and we're done. You know the Israelites got in deep spiritual trouble everywhere they went in the desert didn't they? Time after time they doubted God, they complained against God, they disobeyed God, they even forfeited the promised land for goodness sake. And it was all because they kept making the same mistake over and over and over again. The mistake is they kept forgetting God.
They kept on catching spiritual amnesia. Now friends as followers of Christ, God doesn't want that to happen to you. And let's face it, we all have problems friends. We all have crises that come into our life like the Israelites did. What makes all the difference folks is whether or not we remember God in our crisis or whether we forget God in our crisis. Whether we have a long spiritual memory like David did or whether we have a short spiritual memory like the Israelites did.
That makes all the difference. So how do you elongate your spiritual memory? Number one, by staying in the scripture on a daily basis. Number two, by staying humble. By acknowledging every day that everything you are and have is from God. And number three, by staying grateful.
By focusing on the great things God has done for you in the past and using that as a platform to trust God in the future. Now may I say in closing these things don't happen by accident. We don't stay in the scripture by accident. We don't stay humble by accident.
We don't stay grateful by accident. These are spiritual disciplines that we must purpose in our life that we are going to do these things. They won't happen by themselves.
And so my hope and my prayer this afternoon is that the Lord will motivate every single one of us here to exercise the discipline that we must exercise in our life to build these things into our daily routine. They're not just going to happen friends. But if you purpose for them to happen, they will.
Let me repeat in closing what Dr. Davis said. And I quote, without the constant memory of what God has done in the past, and based on it a deep rooted faith in what has God has promised to do in the future, a person can easily be overcome by the emotions of any given situation. Friend, don't you let this happen to you. Stay in the scripture, stay humble, stay grateful. Be a person with a long spiritual memory. And trust God with every new crisis.
Don't join the Back to Egypt Club. Let's pray together. Lord Jesus, thanks for reminding us today that a short memory as a follower of Christ is a big problem.
Because when our memory is short, it causes us to be overcome, as Dr. Davis said, by the emotions of the moment. We join the Back to Egypt Club, we start complaining and griping and criticizing our life spirals down and we become spiritual cowards. And so Lord Jesus, I pray instead that you would give us the resources today and the self discipline to build them into our life, which will enable us to be men and women of spiritual boldness, men and women of spiritual courage, men and women of spiritual confidence as we look at the future, because we see the future through the lens of what God has done in the past.
We got long memories. Lord change our lives because we were here today. Change the very way we react to our circumstances, because the Holy Spirit used the Word of God and taught us today. And we changed our behaviors. And we pray these things in Jesus name, in God's people said, Amen. Amen.
