Don't Forget to Remember!

By Dr. Martin G Tharp PhD

The human memory has parameters and Jesus made it clear that on every occasion when they observed the Communion, they were to do it in remembrance of Him, but like the disciples,when you cannot remember what has not yet happened in the future, the past becomes incredibly important!Faith for our future is strengthened by each memory of what God has already done in the past! What do YOU remember?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dr. Martin G Tharp PhD
• Release date: Mar 8, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301042623

Dr. Martin G Tharp PhD

Dr. Martin Tharp has been an avid student of the Bible for many years and holds a Bachelor, Master and eight Doctorates, one honorary and seven earned, including a Doctor. of Literature and two PhDs. He has been in full time ministry for over fifty-seven years and has authored forty-nine books to date, many of which are being used as curriculum in Bible colleges around the United States and abroad. He has also penned a number of gospel songs and recorded thirty-three albums as well as being actively involved in a school ministry to Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom for the past thirty-eight years, and Dr. Tharp has been honored twice by members of parliament in Ireland for their work in the Protestant and Catholic schools. He and his wife, Sharon, along with Maranda Howells, travel extensively across the USA and the whole of the British Isles holding evangelistic crusades in the churches of both countries.

Book preview

DON’T FORGET

TO

REMEMBER!

MARTIN G. THARP, PH.D.

Copyright 2013 Martin Tharp Ph.D.

Smashwords edition

Smashwords Edition, License Notes; This ebook is licensed for your own personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this ebook with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.. Scripture quotations identified KJV are from the Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible, King James Version. Copyright 1984, 1991 by AMG International, INC and the Living Bible Copyright 1971, 1986 by Tyndale House Publishers INC

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. Remember; In the Volume of the Book

2. Remember; Read The Plans

3. Remember; My Death Has Been Greatly Exaggerated

4. Remember; The Miracle At Cana

5. Remember; Nicodemus

6. Remember; The Samaritan Woman

7. Remember; The Pool Of Bethesda.

8. Remember; I Was That Bread

9. REMEMBER; Peace Be Still

10. REMEMBER; Peter, Walk With Me

11. Remember; Dogs And Crumbs

12. Remember; Writing In The Sand

13. Remember; Abraham Rejoiced To See My Day

14. Remember; Twelve Stones For A Memorial

15.Remember; The Captain Of The Host

16. Remember; We Forgot To Take Bread!

17. Remember; Transfiguration

18. Remember; Lest We Offend

19. Remember; Unless You Become As A Little Child

20. Remember; Two Blind Men

21. Remember; Daughter of Jairus

22. REMEMBER; If I Can Just Touch The Hem Of His Garment

23. Remember; Two Days To Remember

24. REMEMBER; My Supernatural Memory Stick

25. REMEMBER; Building Blocks for a House of Faith

26. REMEMBER; What Jesus Did Not Say!

Study Questions

Bibliography

About The Author

INTRODUCTION

The dissertation that you now hold in your hand was first designed to be added to a book which I wrote four years prior called The Bread And The Cup. Which when I first published that work there were only twelve chapters. However, as I continued to preach on the subject which was requested by Pastor’s across America and the United Kingdom, the revelation power of the Holy Spirit anointed my mind as God continued to challenge my thinking capacities.

Two years after The Bread And The Cup, was first published, I added nine additional chapters to the book and concluded that I had covered every concept possible as it related to the subject. However, in the first portion of this year (2009), I discovered that there was a very important aspect to the subject which I had never seen before!

Since it is directly related to the book which is already in print, my first assumption was that I would simply add a twenty-second chapter to The Bread And The Cup. Twenty two chapters and two hundred and twenty pages I thought I had reached the completion of this book, the size of the completed work of the work at that time guaranteed that simply adding it to a work which is already in print would not be advisable.

Because of an emergency trip to the emergency ward of the hospital in Manteca, California, and the miraculous events of the following two days I discovered I was not finished! Two additional chapters were added and the print size reduced in order to bring it to its present size.

CHAPTER 1

REMEMBER;

In The Volume Of The Book

Perhaps you are as curious I am and would be interested to know exactly what it was that the Disciples were encouraged, or commanded to REMEMBER when Jesus took the bread in His hand at the last supper and said;

"This is my body which is given for you: do this in remembrance of me?"

Jesus was not instituting a new concept, or beginning a doctrinal deviation from the recognized traditions of the nation of Israel, which were set in motion hundreds of years prior to that memorable evening in which His Disciples were gathered around Him, partaking of the Passover feast with Him. The Passover was originally instituted in the twelfth chapter of the book of Exodus in commemoration of the Israelites deliverance from four hundred and thirty years of Egyptian captivity.

May I pose this question to you: as they took the bread and the cup from the hand of Jesus, what were they expected to center their minds on, and what was it they were suppose to REMEMBER when He said;

"Do this in REMEMBRANCE of Me?"

Was it the cross and the nail prints in His hands, the stripes which were cruelly placed on His back, or perhaps the crown of thorns that was crushed down on His head with the long craggy thorns piercing His brow? Should they have recalled the great jagged hole in His side from the thrust of a Roman soldier’s spear?

What about you and I? What are we expected to center our minds on as we partake of the communion service? Just in case you have suspected that I am about to encourage you to deny yourself that precious poignant moment of contrition and remorse for the suffering endured by our Savior, you would be wrong!

However, may I challenge your intellect to consider these facts; when Jesus sat down with His Disciples, He had not been betrayed or arrested. When He offered the bread to these men and said;

"Do this in REMEMBRANCE of Me,"

There had been no stripes placed on His back, both of which speak in prophetic adumbration of the healing virtue first introduced by way of the manna in the wilderness journey.

Consider with me some of the things which had not yet happened when Jesus handed them the cup and repeated the admonition saying;

"This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you?"

1. They had not yet accompanied Him to the Garden of Gethsemane 2. He had not prayed until His sweat was as great drops of blood.

3. The Disciples had not been rebuked for failure to watch with Him one hour,

4. Judas had not yet betrayed Him,

5. Peter had not yet denied Him.

6. They had not all forsaken Him and fled (Mark 14:50).

7. They had not observed Him replacing the ear of the servant of the high priest which one of His Disciples had cut off in His defense.,

8. No blood had yet flowed from the cruel cat of nine on His back!

9. No crown of thorns had pierced His priceless brow,

10. No wooden cross had been produced!

11. He had not been placed on that wooden cross!

12. There had been no nails driven into His precious hands and feet!

13. No royal robe had been placed on Him for the sake of derision!

14. He had not as yet hung between two thieves!

15. They had not heard a single one of the seven statements of Jesus on the cross!

16. The sun had not yet refused to give her light!

17. The Roman soldier had not yet driven his spear into the precious side of the Savior!

18. They had not heard the statement from the Roman centurion that truly this was the Son of God!

19. He had not been raised from the grave.

20. He had not walked with any of the Disciples on the road to Emaus,

21. He had not appeared to them in the upper room.

22. Thomas had not been invited to thrust his hand into the riven side of Jesus, or feel the nail prints in His hands!

23. He had not yet met them with bread and fish on the seashore.

24. He had not yet ascended into the Heavens before their eyes.

25. The Angels had not yet announced that He would return in like manner as they saw Him disappear into the heavens!

Since not a single one of those momentous events had yet happened, what exactly was the message which He was conveying to these men who had been at His side for more than three years? Precisely what was it that they were encouraged to think about when He said;

"Do this in REMEMBRANCE of Me?"

After spending nearly fifty years of my life as an avid student of the Bible, I am still amazed at the fact that we are all capable of reading the same passage hundreds of times without seeing the revelation of what has been clearly articulated, then suddenly as if it were just written afresh since our last examination, a verse or a thought literally jumps off the page at us!

What He had commanded them to do was actually very simple! REMEMBER!

Webster’s dictionary defines REMEMBER in the following manner; to reminisce, reflect, recall, retain or recollect, but to reminisce, reflect, recall, retain or recollect what?

MEMORY has distinct parameters or restrictions to it, you cannot REMEMBER something that has not yet happened! MEMORY is the result of events that make an impression on us, or is the result of study. The Disciples were from an era where the laws and commandments of God were an integral part of everyday life for an Israelite.

Studying the codicils of the law was demanded by God Himself during the wilderness experience, which we refer to as the law of Moses, however, these laws which the children of Israel were given by the hand of Moses, were actually the laws of God which were handed down to him! Then their responsibility to be carried out were clearly designed by God to be instrumental in their everyday religious duty from the cradle to the grave.

We may rest assured that Jesus was not speaking metaphorically when He said;

"Do this in REMEMBRANCE of Me!"

Nor was He suggesting that they were capable of REMEMBERING a future event which they had not considered, nor had they contemplated or harbored any expectations for. Even though He had warned them of His impending sacrificial death, they had failed to grasp the significance or magnitude of what He had said. Even in their wildest imagination, His crucifixion was beyond the scope of their finite minds.

Although these Disciples of Jesus were common fishermen, they were not ignorant men! Even though their intellectual acumen could not be compared to the likes of the Apostle Paul, whom they had never met at this point, being fishermen did not negate their ability to think and reason. Paul, on the other hand, was a man who was trained in the school of Gamaliel, the premier theological school of the era, famous for teaching men the Jewish law and even though Paul would be chosen by God to represent the Gospel to the Gentile world, yet these men had been hand picked by the Master Himself!

Being devout Jews, they were well aware of the legacy of their fathers which was dutifully handed down to them from generation to generation, a responsibility which God had clearly mandated for them to do in the books of Exodus and Deuteronomy;

"And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates" (Deut.6:6-9; KJV).

If you have read any of my other twenty-nine books you will be aware of the fact that I have a penchant for using the King James version of the Bible exclusively. However, there are times when the Living Bible captures the content of a verse better than any other translation, which is the reason for adding the identical Scripture from the The Living Bible;

"And you must think constantly about these commandments I am giving you today. You must teach them to your children and talk about them when you are at home or out for a walk; at bedtime and the first thing in the morning. Tie them on your finger, wear them on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house!" (Deut. 6:6-9; TLB).

In view of that notable fact, it is reasonable to believe that their parents were submissive to the words of the Lord which was given to them after their deliverance from Egyptian bondage and therefore they were also familiar with the prophecy which had been written by David;

"Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart" (Psalms 40:6-8).

Think about this with me for a moment, the words of Psalms 40:6-8, which are later quoted by the writer in the tenth chapter of the book of Hebrews are an expression of the motives involved in Jesus assuming human form.

"A body hast thou prepared me." (Hebrew 10:5).

The quotation in the book of Hebrews which is taken from the book of Psalms, which is;

"Mine ears hast thou opened: (Psalms 40:6).

There is a slight difference in the meanings which is derived from the Hebrew text, the words are actually;

"Ears you have dug for me."

To my mind this is a clear-cut allusion to the practice of securing ownership of a slave in which the master would bore a hole in the ear of the willing slave which is recorded in Exod. 21:6; and Deut. 15:17. I believe this concept must truly be applied to Jesus, for no one in the history of the world has ever surpassed the servant-hood of our Savior!

This image would unquestionably show Christ’s submissive servant-hood and His willingness to accomplish the plan of redemption in order to satisfy and fulfill the predestinated plan of God, which had been established before the foundation of the world!

"And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Rev. 13:8). (See also Matt. 13:35; 25:34; Luke 11:50; Heb. 4:3).

The ear is the instrument through which the divine commands are received, and then is carried out by the orders of the mind which controls the body.

"Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you" (John 15:15).

The central point of this statement is that Christ was prepared to become a willing, obedient slave, then to demonstrate that obedience as He willingly submitted Himself to the cruel sacrificial death of the cross.

"Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the boo k it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God" (Heb. 10:5-7).

In the prophetic voice, Christ Himself was speaking of His coming for the express purpose of accomplishing redemption.

"In the volume of the book."

Meaning the roll of the scroll, referring to the Old Testament law. To do thy will, O God.

The Son took on a human body in preparation for sacrifice in order to fulfill the predestinated plan of God, which was established before the foundation of the world (See Matt. 25:34; Luke 1:70; Luke 11:50; Acts 15L18; Eph. 1:4; Eph. 3:9; Titus 1:2; Heb. 9:26;1 Peter 1:20; Rev. 13:8). Since He held this view of sacrifice, Jesus became the sacrificial Lamb, thus making the change from the old and thereby thrusting His Disciples into the realm of the new economy.

The word volume, rendered in the preceding passage is kephalis, when translated properly means a little head; and then a knob, and here doubtlessly refers to the head or knob of the rod on which the Hebrew manuscripts were rolled. Books were usually written to be rolled up, and when they were read they were unrolled at one end of the manuscript, and then rolled up simultaneously at the other at the same pace as they were read. The rods on which they were rolled had small heads, either for the purpose of holding them, or for ornamental value, hence the name head, came metaphorically to be given to the roll or volume.

What volume is here intended and where is that written which is here referred to? If David was indeed the author of the particular Psalm from which this verse is quoted, then the book or volume which was then in existence must have been principally, if not entirely, taken from the five books of Moses, and perhaps the books of Job, Joshua, and Judges, with a strong probability it could have included a few of the Psalms.

"To do thy will, O God,"

This expresses the sum total of all that the Redeemer came to do and there are three ways in which He came to do the will of God:

1. By perfect obedience to His Law,

2. By making an atonement for sin,

3. By becoming;

"Obedient unto death" (Phil 2:8).

These men may have been just common fishermen, but they would still have been aware of the prophetic utterances of David, and although they may not have fully understood what I have just described to you, what they could and would have certainly understood was the concept and act of REMEMBERING.

We must once again ask ourselves this question; exactly what was Jesus encouraging them to REMEMBER when He said;

"Do this in REMEMBRANCE of Me?"

In the following chapters we will examine the various events which are the most probable choices which could quickly be brought back to the minds of the Disciples as Jesus challenges their memory banks.

If I may be so bold to suggest to you that in modern day terminology, the phrase which I have already quoted several times would come out slightly different;

After this occasion every time you come together to fellowship and break bread, REMEMBER some past event where you are aware that I have manifested my power and anointing in order to bring a favorable result in your favor. Think about the laws that your parents spoke to you about year after year as you grew into adulthood, and do not forget that prophetically, I was at the center of every codicil of the law!

CHAPTER 2

Remember;

Read The Plans!

"And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me" (Luke 22:19).

The preceding Scripture, which was uttered by Jesus, has been repeated like clockwork for well over two thousand years by multiplied millions of adherents to the Christian faith. Please let me articulate as clearly as possible that I have no intention of offering an adverse opinion on the matter. However, you will soon discover I am convinced that although we are encouraged in the following passage to repeat the words of Jesus, we are missing the real power behind the concept of these verses of Scripture.

"For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, 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" ( 1 COR. 11:23-25).

For over fifty years I have been an avid student of the Bible. I became a Christian at the age of twenty-three, and up to that point in my life I had been totally ignorant of Spiritual things. In my opinion the stories in the Bible were nothing more or less than a mixture of fairytales and metaphors with little or no relevance to me or to the culture that I was a part of. However, my salvation experience was miraculous enough that in my infancy in the church world I slowly but surely became keenly aware of the necessity and the importance of gaining a working knowledge of the spiritual road-map called the Bible.

The portion of my personal testimony that I am about to relate has been articulated to some extent in books which I have written that are already in print, therefore, if you will bear with me for a moment I will reiterate a single event that came flooding back into my mind as I began the odyssey into my new found faith, and once again when I began to write this book.

While working as a construction foreman on a multi-level parking garage with a crew of journeymen concrete finishers, I couldn’t help but notice the leisurely work schedule enjoyed by the job superintendent, a man who wandered around giving orders with a set of blueprints tucked under his arm. When my curiosity finally got the better of me, I inquired about the level of pay he was getting for sitting in a shack most of the day sipping coffee while my crew and I literally worked like dogs for a minimum of eight to ten hours each day!

Since the owner of the company was very appreciative of my work ethic, I was finally able to persuade him to divulge the superintendents pay scale information, I was shocked! Although I made what would be considered at the time, a fabulous amount of money, his salary nearly doubled mine! Astounded at the difference in our pay scale, I made a life changing decision. I set out with a determination and an unquenchable thirst to acquire the necessary skills to not just read and understand, but develop the skills to draw plans as well. For the next two months I provided lunch and snacks, free in exchange for his tutelage. On days of inclement weather when we were unable to pour concrete I still showed up for the full eight hours and offered my services for free in order to learn every detail necessary to qualify me to adequately fill a comparable position.

Little did I know that less than six months later I would inadvertently take the place of the man who had taught me architectural skills to the best of his ability. We changed locations to a new project where we were in the process of building a complex with tilt-up precast concrete walls eight inches thick, each section was ten foot high and twelve feet seven inches long. The walls were to be poured on the top of an existing concrete slab, then allowed to cure for a few days before being erected by a crane, aligned six inches apart and held in place by adjustable metal braces until a 12x18 inch concrete key could be poured into each opening in order to hold them permanently in place and in line.

It was necessary to do the understructure of the electrical and plumbing then set the forms in readiness to pour the slab floor. That was the easy part! On the day of our first big pour for the tilt up walls, there were ten forms set ready for my crew to fill with concrete. I was inspecting the job at hand an hour before the cement trucks were due to arrive when suddenly it dawned on me that the total dimensions of the ten tilt-up panels did not seem to match those of the slab on which they were to be erected! I grabbed a set of job plans and a measuring tape, and quickly discovered that my suspicions were well founded.

Instead of twelve foot seven inches long the walls were actually suppose to be twelve foot and one inch long, but the architect had inadvertently mistaken a one inch figure inserted by the draftsmen for a seven, and no one had noticed it on the final plan! Had we poured the concrete into those forms as they were set, the tilt-up walls would overlap by one inch instead of being able to line up six inches apart and be keyed together! I immediately called and canceled the ready mix trucks that were about to be sent to us.

At about twenty minutes past eight o’clock as I set about marking the forms to be resized, the man whom I had persuaded to teach me how to read and draw plans on our previous job, rolled onto the parking lot demanding to know what had happened to the concrete trucks! When I informed him that I had canceled the days pour, he was absolutely livid! I tried to reason with him, informing him of the dimensional inconsistency I had discovered, but he turned a deaf ear swearing at me that architects did not make miscalculations!

Instead of thanking me for saving the company thousands of dollars, he promptly fired me! Convinced I was sadly mistaken, the superintendent demanded that I get my tools and get off the job, and to do it right that moment! He loudly informed me that after all, I was only a job foreman without the authority to over-ride that of the general superintendent, therefore my actions had overstepped my authority!

As I was loading my tools on the bed of my truck, the owner of the company drove in and out of curiosity inquired as to my reason for loading up my tools. When I informed him that I had been fired, he demanded to know what my