The term, “Lest We Forget” is used in North America, particularly on Remembrance Day on November 11. The term is used to remind people of the sacrifices that the soldiers made in war; those who gave their lives for the freedoms we enjoy in our country.
This year, our church, the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Reform Movement is taking time to remember the fact that it has been 100 years since the separation began from the Seventh-day Adventist Church during the First World War in 1914. There are many services around the world commemorating this event.
The separation began, not on the part of the Reformers. No, they did not want to separate from the church they had grown to know and to love. It was the Seventh-day Adventist church that disfellowshipped the faithful members from their congregations.
Although we do not fight in worldly armies, we are called by God to be true soldiers of the cross. We are to put on the whole armour of God (Ephesians 6:13–17)¬. “We have a soldier’s duty to perform, victories to gain, for we must not be ignorant of Satan’s devices. We pray and then watch lest Satan shall steal upon us and make us forget our need of prayer, our need of vigilance and watching thereunto.” –This Day With God, p. 27
We are prone to forgetfulness, more so as we age. Sometimes we cannot help it, sometimes it is by choice. There are things we choose not to remember as they are not important to us. “Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons and thy sons’ sons.” Deuteronomy 4:9
However, remembering things is vital to our existence. There are various methods people use to help them remember. Some people write notes, others repeat things over and over in their minds. People memorize songs, poetry, and Bible verses. They memorize their studies at school; the procedures at work; how to drive. Many things in life require us to remember. In order to remember, people must continually repeat the phrases, whether spoken or written, and then the brain creates new neuron pathways and the memory sticks.
Some people don’t really want to remember things, like some young people growing up who choose not to remember the things their parents taught them. People may have heard some religious services sometime in their lives, but they choose not to remember. That is fearful. “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee.” Hosea 4:6. How would we feel if God forgot us for even one day? If He did forget us for one day, we would be dead. We are alive by His grace only. “It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22–23
Some students spend a lot of time trying to remember their worldly studies for exams, but they do not give half the effort to study and remember Bible verses. It is said of the Adventist pioneer, J.N. Andrews that he had quit formal education at the age of 11 and from then on he was self-taught. Later in his life he was fluent in seven languages and could recite the New Testament by memory. How many can say that they have memorized even one book of the Bible? If we took the time to just memorize one verse a day, then in a year we will have 365 committed to memory. It is one thing to have an idea as to what a particular verse says, but to quote it exactly and to know where it is found, is another thing. One day we will not have access to our Bibles and will have to rely on our memory.
Memory is like a muscle. It improves with use. At first, what may seem difficult to remember, with much practice grows easier and easier.
WE ARE CAUTIONED TO BE CAREFUL NOT TO FORGET SOME THINGS
“Satan is no indifferent spectator. He exults to see his temptations successful. He loves to see discord and want of harmonious action in the church. We forget so quickly that we are Christ’s ambassadors to bear His message to the world. We forget that we are His soldiers, fighting His battles in our enemy’s country, and unless we are upon guard, as faithful sentinels, we shall be entrapped by the enemy’s stratagems. We must not be ignorant of his devices while we are obeying the orders of our Captain, Jesus Christ.” –The Review and Herald, July 10, 1888 (emphasis mine)
When out with our companions: “In our association with one another, we should take heed lest we forget Jesus, and pass along unmindful that He is not with us. When we become absorbed in worldly things so that we have no thought for Him in whom our hope of eternal life is centered, we separate ourselves from Jesus and from the heavenly angels. These holy beings cannot remain where the Saviour’s presence is not desired, and His absence is not marked. This is why discouragement so often exists among the professed followers of Christ.” –The Desire of Ages, p. 83
Is your light hidden under a bushel? Do all your associates know that you claim to be a servant of Christ? Does your dress and demeanor reflect Christ so that when you are in public, people know that you are a Christian without you even opening your mouth? Many fear ridicule as did the Apostle Peter before his conversion, but Jesus said, “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated Me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” John 15:18–19. “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” 2 Timothy 3:12
A brother in need: When a brother makes a mistake, human nature chooses to react in one of two ways—either to look the other way and ignore the mistake, or then to criticize it and magnify it. This, however, is not the will of God. We must put our human nature aside and let God’s divine nature control our being. Then we will not forget to help our brother with the proper, Christ-like spirit.
“You forget that when a brother has made a mistake, you should ‘seek to restore such an one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself lest thou also be tempted.’ We are out of place in cherishing bitter feelings toward any of the Lord’s purchased possession.” –Christian Leadership, p. 63
NOT FORGETTING THE PAST
If we forget the past, we are bound to repeat the mistakes of others. The Bible is full of history that is for our learning. “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.” Romans 15:4
“The dealings of God with His people should be often repeated. How frequently were the waymarks set up by the Lord in His dealings with ancient Israel! Lest they should forget the history of the past, He commanded Moses to frame these events into song, that parents might teach them to their children. They were to gather up memorials and to lay them up in sight. Special pains were taken to preserve them, that when the children should inquire concerning these things, the whole story might be repeated. Thus the providential dealings and the marked goodness and mercy of God in His care and deliverance of His people were kept in mind. We are exhorted to ‘call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions’ (Hebrews 10:32). For His people in this generation the Lord has wrought as a wonder-working God. . . . We need often to recount God’s goodness and to praise Him for His wonderful works.” –Conflict and Courage, p. 364. Similarly, we must not forget the sufferings of our forefathers in this Reform Movement, but must teach them to our children.
Yet Paul says, “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind.” Philippians 3:13–14
Is there a controversy? The Scriptures plainly show that the work of sanctification is progressive. Yet there are some things we should forget, and others we should remember of the past. Many are weighed down by their past mistakes or hurts from others; they can’t seem to let go and they are weighed down with these burdens. When the past affects the present behaviour in a detrimental fashion it is a memory that is best to be forgotten. When the past memories work to strengthen and encourage faith in the continued struggle against worldly elements, and helps us grow—it is a memory that is best to be kept fresh. We are to keep the memory of the sufferings of Jesus fresh in our memory daily. “It would be well for us to spend a thoughtful hour each day in contemplation of the life of Christ. We should take it point by point, and let the imagination grasp each scene, especially the closing ones. As we thus dwell upon His great sacrifice for us, our confidence in Him will be more constant, our love will be quickened, and we shall be more deeply imbued with His spirit. If we would be saved at last, we must learn the lesson of penitence and humiliation at the foot of the cross.” –The Desire of Ages, p. 83
Ellen G. White sums it up well here: “We need not keep our own record of trials and difficulties, griefs, and sorrows. All these things are written in the books, and heaven will take care of them. While we are counting up the disagreeable things, many things that are pleasant to reflect upon are passing from memory, such as the merciful kindness of God surrounding us every moment and the love over which angels marvel, that God gave His Son to die for us.” –The Ministry of Healing, p. 487
WHAT WE MUST FORGET
There is something we are counselled that we must forget, and that is self. In our struggles on this earth, self must be in last place. Christ, others, the work of the Lord, our fellow members and family members, these all take priority above ourselves. “Selfishness and unbelief are spoiling many lives. The church is made weak by the inefficiency of those who should wear the yoke of Christ and lift his burdens. Christ has need of persons of genuine experience. Shall He have in His army men each with some spiritual defect, soldiers who must seek the easiest place, lest the rough path hurt their slippered feet? We are on the battlefield, enlisted for service. When the trumpet call is heard, ‘Advance!’ do not stop to nurse your little infirmities. Forget that you have them, and move on. Where are the active soldiers, who, clad in all the armor of God, are prepared to do aggressive warfare? Where are the soldiers who are ready to lift the standard, and bear it through the battle, under the Captain’s order, unto victory?” –The Review and Herald, August 21, 1900
GOAL OF LIFE
“The chief end of life is to glorify God. While worldlings live to please themselves, and to get all the enjoyment possible, the Christian should live to bring honor to his Master, and blessing to mankind. Worldlings forget God in their eagerness for pleasure; but the word of God draws a dividing line between the follower of Christ and the pleasure-seeker. He who imitates Christ will show forth his self-denial and self-sacrifice, and will conscientiously consider every action lest he should dishonor God in any of his ways. Just where the conscience of the Bible Christian warns him to forbear, to deny himself, to stop, just there the worldling steps over the line to indulge his selfish propensities. On one side of the line is the self-denying follower of Jesus Christ, on the other side of the line is the self-indulgent world-lover, pandering in fashion, engaging in frivolity, and pampering himself in forbidden pleasures. On this side of the line the Christian cannot go. It is no place for him; for it is a path of darkness, where only unrest of spirit is found.” –The Youth’s Instructor, September 6, 1894
CONCLUSION
“Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like Me.” Isaiah 46:9
“We are as a people to guard ourselves diligently lest we forget the charges of the Lord. There are many dangers that we shall avoid if we keep ourselves a distinct people from the world. Our children are the Lord’s heritage to be educated and disciplined, and that most faithfully, to obey God and keep all the words of the Lord in obeying His commandments. Parents are responsible to God for strictly guarding their children in the path of obedience to God.” –Manuscript Releases, vol. 9, p. 73
May God help us to remember the blessings of the Lord and His leading in the past, and forget our trials and troubles and go forward unto perfection. May God help us to remember the sacrifices that our former brethren made 100 years ago for the sake of the truth. Be careful, lest you forget the Lord in your daily activities; be mindful to take the Lord with you at all times, remembering that He is in your presence daily. May God help us to stand faithful in the time of the end when the world will once again be violently opposed to God’s true commandment-keeping people. Remember how God preserved His faithful in the past, and He will be with you also. Amen.
Wendy Eaton