Four months ago, I preached a message on the same theme as the one I have for you this afternoon. I am reminding you of this, not because it is so profound and spectacular that I can’t avoid it. It is quite the opposite. Both of us are going to have to struggle to stay alert for the next thirty minutes. And that is just the point – that is my theme. And there is a need for this struggle. Because we tend to forget things. We also are prone to skip over things. The Lord is well aware that we need to be reminded of various doctrines and responsibilities. Back in August, when we began the last chapter of Peter’s Second Epistle, we looked at the words: “This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I STIR UP your pure minds by way of REMEMBRANCE. That ye may be MINDFUL of the words which were SPOKEN BEFORE by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour.”
Looking at Peter’s words from Paul’s perspective, I was struck not only with their similarity, but that these are not the only verses with this thought. Paul wrote to Timothy using the two words of my title: “I put thee in REMEMBRANCE that thou STIR UP the gift of God, which is in thee…” Then later he added – “Of these things put (your hearers) in REMEMBRANCE, charging them before the Lord…” – II Timothy. And elsewhere Peter said, “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. Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by PUTTING YOU in REMEMBRANCE; Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me. Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in REMEMBRANCE” – II Peter 1:12-16. To the church in Corinth Paul wrote, “For this cause have I sent unto Timotheus, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into REMEMBRANCE of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach every where in every church” – I Corinthians 4:17.
Why do we baptize a new believer only once, but we observe the Lord’s supper over and over again? I Corinthians 11 – “And when he had given thanks, he brake (the loaf of bread), and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do IN REMEMBRANCE of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, IN REMEMBRANCE of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.” Things as important and rudimentary as the death of the Lord Jesus and His eventual return, are things of which we need to be reminded and reminded. And for the Christian this is one of the Holy Spirit’s more important ministries. In John 14 the Lord Jesus said, “The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send I my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”
This kind of message this afternoon, about these kinds of messages, may not be very exciting, but they are necessary. Paul wrote in II Timothy 1:6 – “I put thee in remembrance that thou STIR UP the gift of God, which is in thee…” And Peter wrote in chapter 3 – “This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I STIR UP your pure minds by way of remembrance.”
I don’t do a lot of cooking, because I have an excellent chef at home, who truly loves to cook. As a result, I don’t know a lot about cooking. But there are a few basics I have learned over the years. For example, every once in a while, Judy will ask me to stir the gravy while it is warming on the stove. Gravy, like many sauces and other dishes, must be stirred in order to come out properly. Without getting into details, stirring keeps some things from burning or creating lumps – like gravy. I’ve seen some sauces get a skin over the top, if they aren’t stirred while they are cooking. Other things separate and ingredients settle if not stirred, and some things even curdle.
And the same can be true of our Bible knowledge. We all know Christians who can’t talk about any subject other than eschatology – future events. Those people need to keep their Bible study stirred up, being reminded they are living today, not tomorrow. And there are pastors who can’t seem to preach anything but God’s sovereignty in the world and in salvation. Despite the importance and truth of those doctrines, they can curdle in some people’s bellies. Those preachers need to add man’s responsibility to the subject of God’s sovereignty. And this may sound counter-intuitive, but some preachers need to stir a few sermons on practical Christian living into their systematic theological sermonizing. Preachers are notorious for riding their hobby-horses instead of preaching the whole counsel of God. This is what makes the kind of Bible study that we are doing this afternoon so important. I might never preach on “Biblical reiteration” if the next verse up didn’t demand it of me.
So what is it Paul tells the Philippians in the last part of verse 1? “To write the same thing to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe.”
Paul was writing about something he had written or preached before.
It is pointless to try to pinpoint when Paul had previously addressed these issues. Some so-called “experts” talk about additional letters to Philippi, which our Bibles don’t contain. Some point to specific things in the first three chapters of this letter. And others say that these were subjects he had preached in person at their church. And they point to the next chapter for support. “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and HEARD, and SEEN in ME, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.” For the sake of our lesson this afternoon it doesn’t matter when these other things were taught.
Here is a self-evident secular truth – spiritual truth is supernatural, but our minds are carnal. It doesn’t matter how spiritual we are; how surrendered to God; how filled with the Holy Spirit we are … Our hearts reside in frail human bodies, and our minds are usually less spiritual than the most spiritual heart. There are so many distractions in our lives – things which suck Biblical and spiritual thoughts right out of us. When was the last time your brain worked on two thoughts at the same time? We need Paul, Peter and even David to pull us back, stirring up the gravy in our minds.
On the other hand, let’s say that we have reached the pinnacle of spirituality in our lives. We have never been more sanctified and Christlike than we are at this moment. Even if that was true, we still live in a world which hates God and fights against God’s truth incessantly. Why did the Lord Jesus pray to our Heavenly Father to sanctify us? Because it is a daily necessity. And with what did the Lord ask the Father to sanctify us? “Sanctify them though thy truth, thy word is truth.”
I read a quote the other day which I thought was really good. That unidentified speaker said, “That can never be too much taught which cannot be too well learned.” Can we know TOO well the love of God? Can we ever fully understand Jehovah’s infinite holiness? If we can’t really grasp these things, doesn’t that mean we should hear of them again – and again? Since the world is pulling us down, should we be reminded to “set our affection on things above” and to “seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God”? I have several dozen books by John Gresham and David Baldacci. And I think that I’ve read no more than a couple of them more than one time. To the best of my memory, I haven’t read any secular book three times. When it comes to secular fluff, rarely do we go to that trouble a second time. At Christ’s Judgment Seat, we will not be marked down for not knowing the details of some novel.
But God’s Word is not fluff – it is real and eternal stuff, substantial stuff. And the Lord DOES expect us to know what He has told us to know. There will be a grade, so to speak. There certainly will be rewards for knowing and putting into practice what we know God wants us to know. “This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I STIR UP your pure minds by way of REMEMBRANCE. That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour.”
Paul says, “To write the same things to you to me indeed is NOT GRIEVOUS.”
Here is an area where I need your prayers. You are not the only Athenian in the congregation. I am as well. Acts 17:21 says, ”all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some NEW thing.” Even if my perception is wrong, I picture you wanting to hear something new once in a while. I assume you want to hear them from the Bible, but still, I think that you want new things. And that makes me put pressure on myself to supply this perceived desire of yours. May God give me the grace He had given to Paul – not to be ashamed to preach the same thing again. May I have new illustrations, and may I find different ways of expressing the old truths. But may God keep me from preaching psychology, philosophy or some new idiosyncrasy.
“To write the same things to you to me indeed is not GRIEVOUS.” The word “grievous” is interesting and provocative. It is found in only two other verses, and in those it is translated entirely differently. In Jesus’ parable of the talents, five were given to one servant, two to another and only one to the third. When the Lord returned to see what each had done with their responsibilities, the last had failed Him. And “His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and SLOTHFUL servant… thou oughtest… to have put my money to the exchanges, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.” – Matthew 25. In this case, the word “slothful” is the same as “grievious” in Philippians. And in Romans 12 Paul exhorts us – “Not SLOTHFUL in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord.” Whatever else that might say, isn’t one message that slothfulness grieves the Holy Spirit? And isn’t t telling me that NOT to preach and re-preach old messages, and even older themes, may be nothing more than spiritual and intellectual laziness?
“To write the same things to you… is SAFE.”
“Safe” is another relatively rare Greek word in the Bible. It is translated “safe” once and “sure” once. On the other two occasions it is rendered “certain.” A few years ago, I stopped telling you the Greek unless there was something significant in it. None of us speak Greek, and it sounded like I was showing off when I used the word. But in this case I’ll tell you that the Greek word is asphales (as-fal-ace’), and it is the source of the English word “asphalt.” What do we do with “asphalt?” We pave roads, driveways and airplane runways.
Why is it “safe” to reiterate Bible doctrines and Bible verses? It is safe for the same reason airport maintenance crews keep repaving landing strips. We need a solid foundation on which to build our Christians lives. We need a stable platform on which to plant our feet which are shod with the preparation of the gospel. We need a place where we can set ourselves, before pulling out the sword of the Spirit for battle.
Have you ever started out for church, or you were rushing to keep an appointment, and you found crews repaving the road you usually like to use? Perhaps it irritated you. Perhaps it made you a little late. Maybe you didn’t even think it needed to be recovered; the road wasn’t that bad. Somebody other than yourself decided that the work needed to be done.
Then at church, once again, you hear another a message on “rejoicing in the midst of persecution.” You think to yourself – “What persecution? My life is running really smoothly right now.” Maybe you’d rather hear a message on the Second Coming or the person of the Antichrist. But the Holy Spirit has decided that another sermon on that tired old subject is just for you. It is “safe” to hear it again. Listen to Spirit, listen to the Word. God’s word is always good – necessary, appropriate and advantageous. Too much sweet stuff; too much sugar, too much protein, too many carbs, too much gravy is not healthy.
I’ll close with something Paul wrote to the Romans in chapter 15, verse 14. “I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another. Nevertheless, brethren, I have written the more boldly unto you in some sort, as PUTTING you in MIND, because of the grace that is given to me of God, That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.” Paul was convinced that the Roman Christians were in good shape spiritually. Nevertheless, he knew he had a responsibility to boldly, put them in mind to keep on keeping on.