Unctions of the Spirit

WILL YOU BE REMEMBERED

By: Gary L. Rodgers

I believe that one of the saddest things for anyone would be to have gone through this life without ever leaving behind any mark of their existence for someone to remember them by. Whenever I visited a graveyard or drove by one, I would often wonder to myself if those souls of the past are missed or remembered. What a sad thing it would be to be erased from the memory of the living the total span of a person’s life as though they never existed. There are certain people that I have crossed paths with and have had the pleasure to know that I think of now and then. Some were people that I had been related to and I loved very much. Some were people that I met through former churches that I attended that touched my heart with their kindness and the spiritual glow that they had about them. Some were heroes of the past. Some that would come to mind were celebrities that appeared to have a love in their hearts for their fellow-man that just seemed to glow through their faces.

Then there were people that I never met, yet their testimony left an impression upon me. Some were great preachers of the past and one was a man who left an unusual epitaph on his tomb stone that told you that he not only had a sense of humor, but he was a man that knew where he was going. His name was Solomon Peas. And this was the message that he left. “BENEATH THESE CLODS, BENEATH THESE TREES, LIES THE BODY OF SOLOMON PEAS. IT IS NOT PEAS IT’S ONLY HIS POD, BECAUSE PEAS SHELLED OUT AND WENT HOME TO GOD.” It’s amazing that this man would have left behind such a notable mark as this for a stranger like me to remember him by. Then there are those that have left a vicious trail of bloodshed and hatred, and had such a foul existence that the whole world will never forget them.

GLORY TO THE LAMB

But there is one that left behind a testimony of grace and power and forgiveness which instills in us a hope for tomorrow and a sure promise that we shall see Him. He left us with the comfort, courage and strength needed to face every trial that comes our way. He left us with an empty tomb as a testimony that He has victory over death; a testimony that He has risen from the dead and is alive forevermore. For centuries people have uttered His name in their darkest hour to find the solace needed to give them the power to press on. He demonstrated His love by facing the intense pain and suffering of the cross in our stead. He only cried out once for himself when He felt the separation that sin created as the barrier between Him and His Father. He holds the title of Master, Lord, Savior, Messiah, The Christ, Prince of Peace, Son of God, Alpha and Omega, the Author and finisher of our faith, The Living Word of God, The Bread of Life, The Captain of our Salvation, The Chief Shepherd, The Holy One of God and so much more. Yet with all that He has been known by there are those that deny His existence and His deity and refuse to accept His Holy Estate. Though they refuse to have any part with Him there will come a day when they shall bow before Him as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. His glory shall be forever, and His children shall praise His name.

^{Psalm 48:1} Great [is] the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, [in] the mountain of his holiness.

 ^{Revelation 5:11} And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;

¹² Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.

¹³ And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, [be] unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

He is the mediator over the Docket of Heaven’s Court and stands ready to intercede for those that have been redeemed by His blood.

^{Galatians 3:20} Now a mediator is not [a mediator] of one, but God is one.

²¹[Is] the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.

²²But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.

²³ But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.

²⁴Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster [to bring us] unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

²⁵But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

²⁶ For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

²⁷ For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

How sad for those that will someday be totally forgotten, never to be thought upon again. When God wipes away all tears I believe that along with that God will wipe away the memory of those that we cared so much for that did not get saved. The pain of knowing that they are suffering in the Lake of Fire will be something that will be erased forever from our minds. How sad for anyone to become so removed from our memory as though they never existed. I hope to leave behind a trail that shows that I had a burden for the lost by being able to win them to Christ even after my death. That is my hope and desire. The reward of that will be the ever-present communion that I will have with those souls in Heaven. How sad that our Lord would pay such a precious price on His part for a soul too only have their memory erased from the recesses of the minds of those that once knew and loved them.

THE MARKS WE LEAVE BEHIND WILL CARRY ON TO OUR DESCENDENTS

All of us will leave behind certain traces of our existence that will show up in our family members that will carry on for generations. Some of those traces will be worthy of praise while others will leave its ugly scars on our descendents.

^{Numbers 14:18} The LORD [is] longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing [the guilty], visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth [generation].

I think of the story of Noah and his sons and how one of his sons, Ham, found his father in a state of naked drunkenness, and rather than cover the nakedness of his father and put an end to sin, Ham was wanting to expose it and carry it on. (Genesis 9) Because of Ham’s sin a curse fell upon his son Canaan and upon their future generations to follow.  Because of one man’s sin whole generations to follow had a strong tendency to be rather risqué with the sins of the flesh.

^{Leviticus 18:3} After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances.

^{Leviticus 18:6} None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover [their] nakedness: I [am] the LORD.

^{Leviticus 18:24} Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you:

^{Leviticus 18:27} (For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which [were] before you, and the land is defiled;)

Because sin carries with it a root that extends into the future it was important for families to know the history of other families when making marriage arrangements for their children. Equally important even for today a person should consider that when they marry they join to themselves the ancestral line of their spouse and their children will bear the marks of both families. That is one of the reasons why we are told that we are not to be unequally yoked with non-believers.

^{2 Corinthians 6:14} Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

¹⁵ And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?

¹⁶ And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in [them]; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

¹⁷ Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean [thing]; and I will receive you,

¹⁸ And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

In some cultures it is still customary for families to get together and arrange the unity of their children. In most dynasty’s it was forbidden for Royalty to marry a commoner because the intent was to keep the bloodline of the Royal family pure and free from being tainted by those that were not of Royal descent. We are a Royal chosen people and need to guard against sin.

^{1Peter 2:9} But ye [are] a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

We need to realize that the decisions of today will have bearing upon the generations to come. We will leave them something good to remember us by or it will be something shameful. If it is something that needs to be ended because of the sins of our forefathers then we need to take it to the prayer Altar of God and have it stopped. Being remembered is one thing, how we are remembered is something altogether different.

THE INVITATION

Will your memory be one of honor or will it be one of shame? The choice is yours. If it is one of shame then a time will come when your memory will forever be erased from those that you held so dear to you. What a sad thought that such a thing should happen to any of us. You can make a difference for yourself and your generations to follow. By bowing your head and asking Christ to forgive you and wash you clean with His blood that was shed for you. You can cut off the deadly root of sin and offer a chance for your present loved ones and those to follow to be a part of that Heavenly gathering. They too will need to accept Christ on their own. Salvation is not something that is passed down from generation to generation. But you can take a stand that will give hope to your family and their future generations to follow. They will be able to look back to say that you were a person of faith that trusted Christ as their Savior and accepted the free gift of salvation. They will be able to say that you took a stand for them and that you left them with an example to follow. If you have prayed this simple prayer then be assured that the Holy Spirit has taken residence in your heart and He is there to teach and train you in the ways of righteousness. Give your descendents a person that they can look back to as a pillar of faith. Stand firm as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Future generations are depending on you.

“Sin doesn’t have any brakes: it has to run into the Tree of Life (Jesus Christ) for it to be stopped.”

If you made a decision to pray and ask Christ to forgive you, and to wash away all of your sin with His blood, and to come into your heart to be your Savior, then we praise God for you.

^{Romans 10:13} For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

You should write down the:

Date: _______________________

Time: __________________________

Place: _______________________________________________________

of your decision. Record this information in your Bible as a record of that decision. It is part of your testimony.

Please contact us through Myerstown Baptist Church, 59 N. Ramona Road, Myerstown PA. 17067 to let us know that you have made a decision for Christ so that we can pray for you and rejoice with you. We would like to send you some information to help you get started in your Christian walk.

Thank you, and may the Lord richly bless you!