Larry C. Brincefield
larkayb@earthlink.net
Sunday Morning, February 23, 2003
Monthly Theme: Revival
Title: "How Soon We Forget"
Text: Psalm 106:10-13
Introduction
It’s been 1 1/2 years since the World Trade Center & the Pentagon were attacked by terrorists.
in the weeks and months following the attack...
there seemed to be a new-found interest in religion...
there seemed to be a new-found interest in the church...
church attendance was up...
the song, "God Bless America" was song all across the country and around the world, including being sung by a choir of the members of Congress.
People were turning to God for help, and peace and comfort during a very difficult time in our lives.
But now, 18 months later, much has changed...
Statistics indicate that church attendance has returned to pre-9/11 levels...
According to a recent poll, the influence of religion in America has decreased significantly
a year ago, only 24% of those polled thought religion’s influence was decreasing...
1 year later, 51% feel that religion’s influence has decreased.
(some of the info above I used from an Editorial in "Pulpit Helps" by Bob Dasal)
Some people might point their finger at the Church,
and say that we didn’t "strike while the iron was hot"...
they might say that we "dropped the ball"
But, I would be more inclined to use another saying, "How soon we forget"
The same thing happens in individuals all the time...It goes like this:
1. A person will go through a very difficult thing in his/her life...
2. That person will turn to the church and to the Lord for comfort and help...
3. After the difficult situation has gotten better (many times, because of the intervention of the Lord and people of the church in prayer and support)
4. That person’s renewed interest begins to wane...
and before you know it, they are no longer interested at all.
How soon we forget.
1 month ago, we kicked off our theme for February...
the theme of revival...
we have enjoyed a wonderful time of spiritual blessing...
many people have received spiritual help during the past month, I know I have.
But next month, we will kick off a new theme...
Next month, more time will have elapsed...
and the danger is that our memory will begin to fade.
We know that the danger is real...
we see it happen all the time...
it even happened in our text...
Read Text: Psalm 106:10-13
Body
1. How Soon We Forget
It happened for the Children of Israel.
They were living in bondage...
They were slaves to Pharaoh and the Egyptians.
Their lives were miserable.
They were mistreated...
many of them died.
But then God intervened in a miraculous way...
The Children of Israel were set free...
They were walking away from their slave masters,
but suddenly, the Pharaoh changed his mind.
and a great Egyptian army was coming upon the Children of Israel hot and heavy.
They thought the situation was hopeless...
But then God came in a special way...
He parted the Red Sea,
the Children of Israel walked across on dry ground...
and when the Egyptian army tried to cross,
the waters came crashing back down.
and the Children of Israel had made their escape!
Our text says,
"Then they believed his promises
then, they sang his praise." Psalms 106:12 (NIV)
There came a point when their situation was desperate...
Exodus 14:10 says, "As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the LORD.
and God answered!
He provided a miraculous deliverance!
So the people suddenly "got religion"
They said, "This ’God’ Thing is pretty cool"
Well, that’s not quite they way they put it...but it amounts to the same thing.
Exodus 14:31 says, "And when the Israelites saw the great power the LORD displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and put their trust in him"
The people got excited about the Lord.
They suddenly began to really have faith in Him.
They began to praise the Lord
In fact, almost the whole chapter of Exodus 15 is a song of praise to God.
You woulda thought revival had broken out!!
2. How soon we forget
How long do you think that spiritual high lasted?
How long do you think that the praise continued to be on the lips of the people?
How long do you think the people kept their faith in God--before it began to waver?
How long?
5 years?
1 year?
1 month?
Do you think it lasted 1 week?
Try 3 days!
Exodus 15:22 tells us that "For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water"
So the people began to grumble...
they began to complain...
they began to whine...
Now, you might be telling yourself, "Pastor, you’re being awfully hard on them...how would you feel, going without water for 3 days"?
"You would probably grumble too!"
Well, I suppose I might...
But,
I would hope that I would still be thinking about that Red Sea thing...
I would hope that I would still be tingling with the memory that I had called on God...
and He answered in such a miraculous way....
I mean, a miracle like that, that was something that I was sure to tell my children and grandchildren...
I would hope that I would remember that when I prayed, God answered...
I would hope that; when I faced another difficult circumstance...
that I would call on God again...
I would hope that I would have the faith to turn to Him...
Instead of turning against Him.
3. How soon we forget!!
We’ve all gone through difficult things...
we’ve had those times when we have felt surrounded by the enemy...
And, we’ve had those times when we have just felt spiritually dry...
We, as a church, began to cry out to God...
we recognized that we needed revival...
we knew that God was the answer for spiritual dryness...
And so, we prayed...
we put yellow dots on our watches...
we focused on praying for revival before each service...
we focused our individual prayer life on our need for revival...
And God answered!!
The Holy Spirit moved!
We enjoyed a wonderful time in the presence of the Lord!!
Many people received spiritual help...
In fact, the Lord probably helped me as much as He helped anybody.
We certainly want to lift up our praise to the Lord...
We certainly want to put our faith in the promises of God...
But we want to stop the cycle from repeating itself right there...
Our text says
They believed His promises...
they sang His praise...
but they soon forgot!!!
Here at the end of our month-long focus on revival...
Let’s put our faith in the promises of God...
Let’s lift up our voices and sing His praises...
But, let’s not forget what God has done!!
I realize that this is an uphill battle...
it is human nature for the memory to fade...
it is human nature that when things are bad, we turn to God...
and when things are good, we tend to forget about Him
it is human nature to forget...
We tend to grumble...
we tend to complain when things don’t go exactly our way...
we tend to whine...
But, let’s not do it!!!
Paul saw the danger from what happened with the Children of Israel,
In 1 Cor. 10:10, he says, "do not grumble, as some of them did"
Jesus saw the danger, He knows what we are like...
He said, "Remember the words I spoke to you" John 15:20 (NIV)
Conclusion
Only 18 months after the 9/11 tragedy,
and people are saying, "How soon we forget"
Only 3 days after God spread the waters of the Red Sea aside...
and "they soon forgot"
I could probably list a dozen people (maybe much more than a dozen)...
who turned to Christ when they were facing a desperate need in their life...
only to turn away after the need was met.
I certainly don’t think they intended in advance to go to God to help them
and then gradually forget about it.
but that’s how it happens in many cases...
I don’t know about you...
but I want to live a lifestyle of putting my faith in the promises of God...
I want to live a lifestyle of praising the Lord...
And, I want to make sure that I remember!!
I don’t want to ever forget what the Lord has done for me.
I don’t want to, but the danger is there...
If the Children of Israel could forget about an incredible miracle like the parting of the Red Sea in 3 days...
Then we could certainly forget about what the Lord did for us in Revival 2003...
but don’t do !!
